


The Strain of Memory

by SpiceFlux



Series: The Strain of Memory Continuity [1]
Category: Shovel Knight
Genre: Background Relationships, Brief Alcohol Mention, Canon Compliant, Gen, Minor Violence, Post-Endgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:41:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23760250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpiceFlux/pseuds/SpiceFlux
Summary: To put it simply, Specter Knight goes on a quest to retrieve his locket. But nothing in life (or death) is ever so simple, is it? There are some problems a scythe just can't fix.
Series: The Strain of Memory Continuity [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2059716
Comments: 21
Kudos: 67





	1. The Inciting Incident

Most stories begin at the start of the story, but this one takes place at the end. But that ending is, itself, the beginning of this new story. That's just how it goes sometimes.

Once upon a time, in a distant land of kings and knights and magic, a thief and his partner tried to steal an enchanted amulet from a spooky tower. A pompous knight tried to stop them, and when the thief and the knight broke out into a scuffle, the tower collapsed and killed all three of them. The thief was resurrected as an undead servant by the enchanted amulet, which had possessed the body of the knight, and the world was plunged into an age of darkness.

Luckily, a hero saved the land and destroyed the amulet. The day was saved. And yet, the undead servant remained. What use is a knight with no liege to serve? What purpose might such a being have?

This is the story of Specter Knight, formerly known as Donovan the Thief, and the tale of his ending, which ended up also being his beginning.

\---

A pleasant day in the Lich Yard isn't pleasant by the standards of anywhere else. Even with the hordes of the undead put (mostly) back to rest, the place had a perpetual sense of unease and a literal dark cloud hanging over it. Between the decrepit buildings and piles of skulls lying around, it wasn't exactly the kind of place one would want to build a vacation home.

But it was dreary enough to keep most people away, and Specter Knight was perfectly fine with that.

During his period of mandatory servitude to the Enchantress, he had been posted here as one of her eight Knights of the "Order of no Quarter," primarily to serve as a stopgap to prevent do-gooders from reaching the Tower of Fate. It had been meant as an insult to his mortality status, given his consistent straining against her command.

Now those days were gone, and still he lingered here for some reason. On the one hand, the solitude of the place was preferable to interacting with the buffoons outside of it. On the other hand, perhaps this place was what he deserved, given everything he had done.

The third (and perhaps most important) reason was that he had stowed his locket here for safekeeping. Once upon a time, his partner in crime had given this prized family heirloom to him. Once upon a time, the Enchantress had bestowed upon it the ability to bring him back to life if he obeyed her commands. 

And, once upon a time, he used the magic it had stored up to save the life of his partner's son, forsaking his own life in the process.

So much had been stripped of him already-- his life, his partner and best friend, his volition. If that locket was the one vestige of his former existence, so be it. He could afford the dalliance of sentiment now and again.

And it was there in the Lich Yard that he discovered it missing.

The chest that had contained it lay open and plundered, its lock blasted clean off. The waterlogged underground room that contained it bore scars of black gunpowder on the walls and floor. It couldn't be more obvious what had happened.

Specter Knight clenched his fist as he took in the scene. He usually showed displeasure with cold contempt and biting remarks; less often, he would express anger by shouting. But this rage knew no words.  
This pain knew no words.

He slammed his fist onto the lid of the treasure chest, trembling slightly. Then, in a fit of rage, he lifted the chest into the air with his magic and cleaved in two with the massive scythe at his side. Retribution would be had. The criminal would be punished. And when everyone else saw what he did to them... no one would ever think to encroach on his property again.

A distant bolt of lightning crackled outside, briefly illuminating his ghostly form as he ascended from his crypt. His red, tattered robes tossed in the wind, flapping against the bronze armor beneath. With the oversized scythe in his hand, he was ready to take down any fighter or monster in the kingdom. And if there was a force in the land that dared to stand in his way, he inwardly dared them to try.

\---

"And then, instead of the vial he MEANT to add, he somehow added BLEACH to the solution," Mona said with a hint of a smirk.  
"Bleach? To a vinegar solution??" Plague Knight's mask was unexpressive as always, but Mona could hear the barely stifled guffaw underneath. "Was he trying to get a lungful of chlorine gas?" Plague Knight let out a full belly laugh that echoed in the Explodatorium corridors.

Mona, in spite of herself, found her chuckling along. Plague Knight's energy was infectious like that.

"If you ask me, he was too distracted by his pretty lab partner to read the labels of his ingredients," Mona said with a twinkle in her eye. Plague Knight just laughed harder.

"Oh, our minions sometimes, hee hee!" he laughed as he wiped a tear from under his mask. "Why do we keep them around again?"

"Because you need minions who can reach the top shelf for you," she said as she tapped him on the mask. 

He swatted her hand away. "And you need minions to collect coins and ingredients for you!"

Mona smiled mischievously. "Nah, I have you for that," she said as she blew him a kiss. Plague Knight suddenly stiffened as though struck by lightning; Mona swore she could see him blushing through his mask. She snickered.

Suddenly, a knock at the door interrupted their flirting.

"At the Explodatorium? Who could that be?" Plague Knight wondered aloud as he walked to the door and opened it. "It's a little late for visi--"

Suddenly a blur of red robes tackled Plague Knight to the ground.

"What the hell?!" Mona shouted, summoning an explosive flask in each hand.

"E-easy there, Mona," Plague Knight said weakly from the floor, where Specter Knight had him pinned to the ground with the blade of his scythe.

"You took something that belongs to me," Specter Knight said with cold, barely restrained fury. "You will return it at once."

"Hee hee!" Plague Knight's laugh came out like more of a hiccup than an actual laugh. "Ah, well, you'll have to be specific. I haven't a clue what you're talking ab--ackk!"

Specter Knight's scythe pressed into Plague Knight's throat.

"You know what you did, and I won't repeat myself!" Specter Knight said, voice raised.

"Hey. Let's talk this out," Mona said calmly, but her brusqueness betrayed her worry. "You put down your scythe, I put down my explosives, nobody loses any body parts. Okay?"

"Yes, yes, what she said!" Plague Knight squeaked from the floor, voice thin.

Specter Knight hissed, but pulled his scythe back. Plague Knight started coughing.

"A locket," he said coldly. "Heart shaped with a blue insert. The size of that contraption." He gestured to a nearby flask with his scythe. "Return it at once or I'll--"

Mona interrupted his threat with a green flask, which exploded in Specter's face. He hissed loudly as he staggered back.

"Plague, get out of here!" Mona hollered as she summoned another flask. "I can hold him off!"

Plague Knight knocked back a health potion and stumbled to his feet, shaking his head. "Absolutely not. This entrance corridor is no place for a fight. Now kindly TAKE THIS OUTSIDE!"

And with that, he lobbed a cluster bomb at Specter Knight. The explosion threw him back through the doorway and onto the ground outside.

Mona closed the door and locked it, but ominous slashing noises still came through from outside.

"Plague, what is he even talking about?" she asked with annoyance.  
Plague tapped his index fingers together in thought. Then suddenly he raised his head in recognition and burst out laughing.

"Haha! That old piece of junk? What on Earth would you want with that, Specter?" he cried out gleefully.

A wide gash appeared in the steel of the door. Mona's eyes widened briefly.

"If we don't need it for our experiments, maybe it'd be easiest to just give it to him?" Mona said as she looked around at her surroundings. Nothing much terribly valuable-- just some spare glassware and a bookshelf of old experiment data. An end table with a flower growing on it. Nothing that'd be terribly handy in a fight.

"I don't have it!" Plague Knight snapped as another gash in the door appeared. "I pawned that antique the first chance I got!"

Mona pursed her lips. "Ok, then I guess that's that, then." The green flasks in her hands disappeared and were replaced with a larger purple flask. "Time for the big guns."

Just as a third slash in the door appeared, Mona heaved her purple flask in its direction. The massive explosion sent papers and glassware flying everywhere and destroyed what was left of the door. It also sent the door-- and Specter Knight with it-- flying some 20 feet backwards. 

Mona grinned. Plague Knight remembered why he fell in love with her all over again.

Mona stepped over the steel door shrapnel and went outside. Specter Knight had been battered by the blow, but he was already getting back on his feet.

"He doesn't have it, okay?" Mona barked. "We can't give it to you because we don't have it."

Specter Knight turned to Plague Knight, brandishing his scythe menacingly. "And what exactly did you do with it, then?"

Plague Knight snickered. "What are you going to do, make me tell you?"

Mona gave Plague Knight a wide-eyed glare. Specter Knight raised his scythe eagerly. "Try me," he said coolly.

Plague Knight snickered and tossed a black powder bomb into the air. In a sudden flash, Specter sliced it in half and propelled forward, tearing through Plague Knight's torso. Mona winced.

"Heh, you think a wound like this'll keep me down?" Plague Knight snarled as he knocked back two more health potions. Specter Knight hissed.

"Stop!" Mona ordered. "You both are acting like children. I don't care if you're knights. You can't solve all of your problems by fighting each other!"

"Then tell me where it is!" Specter Knight roared. This was the most either Mona or Plague Knight had seen Specter care about… well, anything, really.

But Plague Knight held his green hand against the seeping wound on his chest, and he stared directly into Specter's inscrutable bronze visor as he spoke:

"Over. My. Dead. Body."

Specter Knight's fist clenched and began to glow purple as he reared back for a Dread Talon strike.

But before he delivered the strike, he was interrupted by a voice.

"What's all this commotion?" a horse-man called out from the ruins of the Explodatorium entrance.

Plague Knight seemed to squint in the direction of the entrance.

"Percy?!?!" he called out incredulously. "What on earth are you doing here?"

"Well, I heard an explosion that sounded bigger than usual, and not in the area explosions usually happen, so I got curious, and--"

"Never mind that!" Specter interrupted. "Do you know the location of a gold and blue locket?"

"Hmm," Percy muttered as he thought, apparently oblivious to Plague Knight's repeated waving and finger-drawn-across-the-neck gestures. "Is that one of the old relics you sold to Chester, Master?"

Plague Knight stood dumbfounded for a moment. "Uh… No. Of course not. Why would I do that! Hee hee! That's crazy talk!"

"You sure?" Percy said, sounding sincere. "Because you were bragging about those arcana you got from Chester, and you said we don't really have the budget to buy that stuff, so it'd make more sense for you to trade--"

"Ok Percy, that's enough! HEE HEE! Thank you for your contributions to this conversation!" Plague Knight said with exaggerated cheer as he pushed Percy back into the Explodatorium.

Specter Knight stared blankly for a long moment before finally turning to Mona.

"It seems I have business elsewhere to attend to, but to deter future incidents, I'll leave you with a parting gift." Then Specter Knight took to the skies and floated away.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Mona barked after him. But her question was quickly answered as some two dozen skeletons rose up from the fields, armed with weapons and malice. Mona cursed under her breath.

"Plague, we've got company!" she called out to him. "And maybe quit stealing stuff from people, wouldja?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's chapter 1! More chapters will be on their way soon. The one good thing about quarantine is that I have plenty of spare time to put into this silly side-project of mine.


	2. Bogged Down by Obstacles

It wasn't until he was well out of sight of the Explodatorium that Specter Knight let his facade drop. Those explosions had done more of a number on him than he'd let on, and he had to stop to regain his strength periodically throughout the night. He'd drained the will from three entire skulls by the time he reached the borders of the nearby Armor Outpost.

The soft flames of the streetlights glowed against the sunrise creeping over the horizon. The townspeople were just starting to wake up and go about their daily business, and the lights of their homes flickered into being, one by one.

It had been a long night. 

Specter Knight hissed under his breath. Why Chester, of all people? Chester had the uncanny ability to never be around when one needed him, in addition to being difficult to work with. Specter hadn't spoken to him in years, not since his days of thievery with…

Specter Knight shook his head sharply. He didn't have time to dwell on this. What mattered right now was finding Chester and running his scythe through him if need be. His own exhaustion could wait.

The Armor Outpost was the nearest and most likely place Specter could think of to find Chester, but he had to approach carefully. If he waltzed into town scythe a-swinging, Chester would get spooked and run off. And with the pain of the Order still fresh in everyone's minds, he'd end up in a fight, and that would waste time. 

In the olden days, he could walk into any shopfront or plaza he wanted without thinking about it. Such was the privilege of being alive. Nowadays, he would need to be more careful.

First step was to remove the decorative skulls on his pauldrons. They were useful for intimidation, but not for stealth. Next came the dark sash and other embellishments he'd added.

This left behind his armor and red cloak, which wasn't a terribly different ensemble from what he used to wear back when he was alive. Just to be on the safe side, he switched his red cloak for the darker blue one he'd obtained from Red in the Tower of Fates. If he let his scythe magically disappear, he could almost pass for human if he was quick about this.

Specter Knight exhaled brusquely. With his head low and visor down, he strode decisively into the town.

Luckily for him, there weren't many people up and about at this hour. A few passersby at most, and Specter was able to cross the street to avoid them. Ever since dying, he'd become what King Knight had tactlessly described as a "reeking husk," and he couldn't take the risk of someone noticing the mummy-like scent that followed wherever he went. It was better than a full-on decomposing corpse smell, at the very least, but still noticeable to bystanders.

He'd himself become desensitized to the scent long ago. But better safe than sorry.

It also meant that he couldn't ask for directions from any of the locals, but he knew the layout of the land well enough. There weren't all that many places to get reputable armor, and he'd gotten his own bronze plating from this very spot many years before. 

It did mean he couldn't ask about Chester's location, though. Pity.

The Armor Outpost wasn't very large, and it didn't take long for him to search its paltry streets. No sign of the target, unfortunately. But he might still be in the airship or on the rooftops. Specter had seen him in far stranger places.

Flying up to the rooftop would be the easiest way to search, but that wasn't an option at the moment. So some acrobatics would be in order. Specter cracked his knuckles and jumped.

His feet settled easily into a groove in the siding of a nearby building. He leaped from the wall onto the side of a nearby shopping stall, and propelled himself from it towards the top of the first building. With a somersault and a flourish, he flipped onto the roof. 

The rooftop gave a good view of the town below, and confirmed that Chester was not in the area. His usual "storefront" on the roof was empty as well, and when the airship opened for business for the day, Chester neither entered nor exited. Perhaps this was a waste of time.

Specter Knight leaped to the ground disgruntledly and strode towards the town's borders. But his exit was interrupted by a voice:

"Specty, is that you???"

Specter Knight paused. There was only one person in the entire world who dared to call him that name.

He turned around, and there Missy stood, green curls and grin and all. She seemed to be dressed in a Troupple Acolyte's uniform-- red and green robes with a massive apple-shaped hat.

"You've joined the Acolytes," Specter said flatly.  
"Oh, this?" Missy gave a bubbly laugh. "Oh, I'm just covering for my friend who's out sick. King of fish and fruit, long may his stem grow, and all that." She grinned.

"I see," Specter Knight said.  
Missy grinned even more broadly, somehow. "Specty, no one's seen you since the Tower of Fates fell. We were all so worried, but I'm glad you're okay!"  
Specter Knight grunted.  
"No, really!" Missy clasped her hands together. "I know you put up a gruff exterior, but underneath, we know you're just a big softie!"  
"I disagree," Specter Knight said with a huff. Missy laughed.  
"Why did you want to speak to me?" Specter said gruffly.

Missy raised her eyebrows. "Because that's what friends do. They check up on each other and make sure they're okay."  
"We are not friends," Specter said flatly.  
Missy smirked. "If we weren't friends, you would have walked away from this conversation already."

Specter Knight stiffened. This girl was too bright for her own good.

"Anyways, that's not the only reason," Missy continued, sounding a bit more serious. "I haven't forgotten about your… condition. And since I have friends in the acolyte business, I thought that maybe the Troupple King would be able to help."

"I have no interest in your religious dealings," Specter said dismissively.  
"No, it's not like that!" Missy said quickly. "The Troupple King is a real, physical creature. I've met him. And he can produce an Ichor of Renewal that might be able to help you!"

Specter Knight paused. Phantom Striker's words from inside the mirror echoed in his mind: "Naive fool! Your curse cannot be undone. You are beyond the help of magic! Twisted forever!"

Specter Knight sighed. "I decline your offer," he said stiffly to Missy.

Missy pursed her lips. "Oh come on! It doesn't hurt to try! Listen, you want to talk to Chester, right?"  
"What do you know about that?" Specter asked suspiciously.

"Well, you just jumped down from that rooftop where he usually hangs out, right?" Missy shrugged. "I won't ask what it's about. But he can be a little hard to find sometimes. If you agree to at least talk to the Troupple King, I'll pull some strings and get you in touch with Chester, okay?" 

Specter Knight considered for a moment. If he said no, there was still a chance he could catch Chester in the village by the Lich Yard. But… loath as he was to admit it, the more reliable approach would be to allow Missy to help him in this regard.

"Fine," he relented. "Where is this Troupple King you speak of?"

"Not far!" Missy said brightly. "In the swamps west of the mountains near the Explodatorium. If we leave now, we can get there by noon or so. My friend will understand. Come on!"

Missy skipped ahead joyfully. Specter Knight walked forward coolly, quickly deciding that Missy had entirely too much energy for her own good.

\---

After Specter changed back into his regular red cloak and Missy into her typical black dress, the two walked in silence as they headed West from the Armor Outpost. The road didn't normally cut through here, but it made for a serviceable shortcut that kept them well out of Plague Knight and Treasure Knight s' territories. As they reached the rocky hills of the mountain pass, Missy struck up a conversation:

"You know, Specty, I never did ask about your life before you came to the Tower of Fates."  
Specter's shoulders stiffened. "I never volunteered that information."  
Missy wasn't deterred. "C'mon, the Enchantress only took up shop what, 3 years ago? You must have had a whole life before that! What did you do for a living?"  
"...I was a thief," Specter Knight eventually answered. "And a sellsword sometimes. A self-described adventurer."  
"Wow, really?" Missy said in surprise. "With your skills, I would have thought you'd be a top-rank guard, or a knight for some fancy king!"  
"I was never much interested in serving others," Specter Knight said, avoiding her stare. "My partner and I preferred a sense of autonomy for ourselves."  
Missy's eyebrows shot up. "Ooh, you never mentioned a partner! What're they like?"  
Specter Knight sighed deeply and was silent for a long moment. "His name was Luan," he said quietly. "A brilliant swordfighter and adventurer. He was killed in an… accident a few years ago."

Missy lowered her head. "I'm sorry to hear that," she said sorrowfully. "How long did you two know each other?"

"Since we were teenagers," Specter replied. "Our hometown was not very well off. Thievery was sometimes the only way to eat. It was easier to pull off such schemes with two."

"That sounds like a hard life," Missy said sympathetically.  
"We made do."

The two were quiet for a long moment. Missy stared at the rocky road ahead of them, stepping carefully over the ankle-twisting outcroppings in it. Specter Knight glided gracefully forward, hovering a few inches off the ground.

"That's a neat ability you have there," Missy laughed as she nearly tripped on a large rock. "It seems to be coming in handy right now."

Specter Knight said nothing as he floated forward.

"Do you have any family?" Missy asked casually.

Specter Knight didn't answer.

Missy continued. "I've always believed in the idea of a found family. Though I am not one of them, I think of some of the Troupple Acolytes that way."

"My partner had a son," Specter Knight said slowly. "But I have not seen him in quite some time. He's safer in his current home."

Missy snorted. "Safer than with a world-class fighter like you at his side? That I doubt!"

Specter stopped and looked her dead in the eye. "Do you remember the boy who broke into the Tower of Fate? Who was possessed by the Enchantress? Do you remember his fate?"

Missy pursed her lips, staring at the sky as she thought. "Yeah, Reize wasn't it? He was the one who you gave your-- Oh!" Her eyes went wide. "He was your partner's son…"

Specter Knight continued walking, breaking his gaze.

"Specty, I had no idea! That was a brave and courageous thing you did," Missy said as she jogged to catch up. "He's lucky to have you."

Specter Knight said nothing.

Missy's questions stopped after that, since she seemed to gather that Specter Knight wasn't interested in talking further. They walked in silence until they reached the outskirts of the bog.

"How deep into the bog will we be going?" Specter asked curtly as he sliced through an attacking frog.  
"Not too far," Missy said as she hopped over a patch of bog water. "We'll be meeting up with a friend who knows the fastest route. Mind the water, by the way-- it's a lot deeper than it looks, and I imagine swimming is difficult in that armor."  
"I can swim fine," Specter Knight said with irritation, but he carefully hopped over the bog water as well. Better safe than sorry, that was all.

"And who is this friend we will be meeting?" Specter Knight continued suspiciously.  
Missy winked. "That's a surprise!" she said as she walked forward.  
"I don't like surprises," Specter Knight said flatly.  
"Oh, you'll like this one," Missy said with certainty.  
"Missy, I demand that you tell me what is going on at once!" Specter snapped.  
"Oh, quit being such a grump. We're almost there!" Missy said over her shoulder as she pulled back some overhanging vines. Behind them was a winding cave that couldn't be seen before. Specter Knight sighed sharply and walked through.

As the passage of the cave turned, the daylight from the outside was swallowed by the cavern's darkness. Missy brought out a candle from in her robes, but its feeble light did little to light the cavernous depths. Specter Knight eventually pulled out his own Barrier Lantern, which accomplished the job much more easily. Missy smiled.

"Thanks, Specty!" she said brightly. Specter grunted in response.

They walked through the cave a little longer until torch light suddenly filled the cavern from around the opposite corner.

"Who goes there?!" Specter Knight called out.

A short figure, dressed in Troupple Acolyte robes and carrying a torch, turned the corner to greet them. He glanced briefly at Missy, but when he noticed Specter Knight, his jaw dropped.

"My lo-- I mean, Specter Knight?!" he cried out in surprise.  
Specter Knight squinted under his visor. "Dark Acolyte?"  
He laughed. "I go by Troupple Acolyte now, or just Acolyte for short. It is wonderful to see you! It has been some time."  
Specter Knight nodded stiffly. "Missy has brought me here on business with the Troupple King."

Acolyte looked at Missy for a moment. "It seems you are covering for Troupple Missionary again?" Missy nodded. Acolyte smiled knowingly. "Hopefully she feels better soon. Well, let us be on our way!"

Acolyte led them through the labyrinthine cavern ahead until they reached a boat in an underground lagoon. The boat seemed old and elegant, with gold plating and carved owl heads on each end.

"This boat will take us straight to His Kingliness," Acolyte said as he stepped in. "These are sacred waters, so please keep your hands in the boat and show proper respect." Missy and Specter Knight nodded and entered the boat.

Acolyte pulled an oar from inside the boat and pushed them off from the lagoon shore. "It is only a short row to our destination," he said as he rowed them forward. He noticed a web of cracks in one of the owl carvings and sighed sadly. "Though it seems this boat has seen better days."

The boat was silent for a moment as Acolyte continued to row.

"So, how has the acolyte business been lately?" Missy asked cheerfully.  
"Same as always," Acolyte replied casually. "Selling chalices, spreading the good word of The King of Fish and Fruit. I sold two chalices to the great Shovel Knight before he defeated the Enchantress! It was well past time for someone to show her what for!"  
Missy nodded energetically. Specter stared at the cave wall.

"Shovel Knight is a… talented adversary," Specter Knight said begrudgingly. "He defeated the Enchantress where I could not. That is worthy of respect. My chagrin at my defeat at his hands is nothing compared to that."

"There is no shame in such a defeat," Acolyte said earnestly. "Just think-- if you had indeed defeated him, you would still be captive to the Enchantress's wishes. It was for the best."

Specter thought for a moment. If he had truly wanted to kill Shovel Knight back in the Lich Yard, he could have used his Curios to dispatch him. But he hadn't. Was he holding back even then…?

Just then, a beam of sunlight broke through the darkness of the cave, the lagoon of which emptied into the bog outside. The foliage seemed thicker here, with vines and leaves drooping languidly from the treetops above. Acolyte brushed a thick clump of vines aside from his face as he rowed.

"Almost there," he said, turning a bend in the river. Ahead grew the largest apple tree that Specter had ever seen. It must have been some fifty feet tall, with countless fruit growing from its countless branches.

"Make sure not to eat the fruit," Acolyte warned.  
"Of course not," Missy promised.  
"I cannot eat," Specter replied.

Then Acolyte stopped rowing. He replaced the oar inside the boat, retrieved a Chalice from inside his robes, and raised it high.

"Oh King of Troupples, we seek thine aid!" he called out into the bog.

There was a moment of silence. Then a rumbling from deep in the river shook the water, rocking the boat with sturdy waves. The apples in the tree shook free, falling into the water, where they… turned into fish? Or had they always been fish? Specter Knight was confused.

Then a large form emerged from beneath the surface of the water. It looked like an enormous red whale, with wide-set eyes and a disproportionately small crown perched on its rubbery head. It had a blowhole the size of a full-grown man, and its mouth was large enough to swallow the entire boat whole, and another one like it besides.

"The King of Troupples," Specter Knight muttered under his breath.

"At your service," the enormous fish said in a deep voice, sounding amused. "Doest thou need aid?"

Acolyte cleared his throat and raised his head. "King of Fish and Fruit! Long may thy stem grow! We come seeking aid for our friend, who has been stricken with a terrible curse!"

The Troupple King drew near to the boat, inspecting Specter Knight closely.

"I understand," he finally said in his booming voice. "I shall lend thee the aid that thou requirest."

Then a noxious green liquid spouted from the Troupple King's blowhole and splattered all over Specter Knight.

"Gah! What is the meaning of this?!" Specter Knight cried out as he unsuccessfully tried to remove the phlegmy substance.

"An ichor seldom needed," the Troupple King said sagely, "but in your case, sorely required. You have been aided with the Ichor of Aroma, which ought to mask that horrific scent that afflicts you.

Specter Knight burned with rage and mortification. 

"No, that isn't what we came for!" Missy said, eyes wide.  
"Although it is something of an improvement," Acolyte noted quietly.  
"I beg your pardon?!" Specter roared.

Acolyte cleared his throat. "Nothing, nothing! But yes, Troupple King, our friend has been afflicted with an entirely different curse. The Enchantress took his life and relegated him to the status of the undead. Surely there must be some way to help him! If anyone can help him reclaim his life, it would be you, Your Fishiness!"

Troupple King nodded wisely. "I see. A substantial request. Tell me, mortal, is this for a noble cause?"  
Specter looked the Troupple King in the eye. "I can make no promises of my nobility. I have performed many actions, some which can be considered more noble, and others less so."

The Troupple King's eyes narrowed. "Hmm," he said as he pondered.

Missy looked up at the Troupple King. "That is not the full story!" she said boldly. "Specter Knight meticulously located every red skull so his friend could be with his beloved again. He would not stand before you if he hadn't sacrificed the power accumulated in his locket to save the life of a young boy. From everything I have seen, he is noble!"

Specter Knight scoffed.

The Troupple King drew closer to the boat. "You are Specter Knight, servant to the cause of The Enchantress? Member of the Order of No Quarter?"

"Former member," Specter Knight clarified.  
"He served against his will!" Acolyte added. "The Enchantress held his life and existence, as well as that of an innocent bystander, at ransom!"

Troupple Knight turned to Specter Knight. "What say you to this?"

"I am not ashamed of my fate," Specter answered. "If you cannot alleviate it, I accept that."

The Troupple King nodded. "Very well. I have come to a decision."

Missy and Acolyte leaned in.

"Unfortunately, resurrection from the dead is beyond even my powers," the Troupple King boomed. "However, I have taken pity on thee and thine tragic situation. I and my Troupple subjects shall help lay thee to rest so that thou may know peace."

Missy froze.  
Specter Knight's hands clenched into fists.  
Acolyte's eyes went wide. "Please, your highness, I beg you to reconsider--"

The Troupple King shook his enormous fishy head. "No, mine mind is made up. I wish thee safe passage into the afterlife."

Then a stream of Troupples burst from the river and slammed into Specter Knight, knocking him over and nearly capsizing the boat.

"Specty!" Missy cried out. Acolyte grabbed the oar and started paddling like mad.

"This… is my afterlife…" Specter said weakly, dazed from the blow.

"Here, this'll help," Missy said as she summoned a Will Whisp. Some of its energy transferred to Specter Knight as it escaped. Specter shook his head a bit and seemed to regain his focus a bit.

"Hyaa!" Acolyte shouted as he batted away a Troupple with his oar. But more were on their way. A dozen or so could be seen jumping from the water, and even more ominous shadows lurked beneath the surface of the water.

"There are too many of them," Missy whispered.  
Specter Knight stumbled to his feet and put up his Barrier Lantern. Several fish leaped from the water to attack, but they were deflected by the Lantern's flames. Specter gave a small snicker.

"Row," he ordered Acolyte.  
Acolyte obeyed immediately, and Missy joined in the rowing with Specter Knight's scythe. Specter himself began tossing various Curios at the oncoming fish-- Throwing Sickles, Spider Scythes, Bounding Souls. These attacks took out many of the fish, and yet more came. More and more and more.

"How many of these wretched things are there?" Specter fumed.  
"Countless are the Fruits of the King," Acolyte recited from memory.  
"We must be close to the cave!" Missy said hopefully.  
Indeed, the cave was nearly in sight through the thick of vines in front of them. But a deafening splash of from behind caught their attention.

A stiff wave of river water surged towards them. 

"Lean left!" Acolyte cried out. Specter and Missy obeyed, and the wave crashed on the side of the boat, drenching all of the occupants in the process.

"What was that?" Missy asked cautiously.  
"Trouble," Acolyte said nervously.  
"I will be needing this," Specter said as he reclaimed his scythe from Missy's grasp.

A few yards from the cave entrance, another huge wave ripped through the river. Specter Knight reared back and gave a powerful slash with his scythe, and the bulk of the water crashed off of it like a wave breaking against a stone. 

The Troupple King emerged from the water, looking troubled as he blocked the entrance to the cave.

"Is this not what you desire, apparition?" he asked in confusion.  
"No!" all three of the boat members shouted at once.

The Troupple King shook his enormous fishy head. "Then you do not know what is best. My wisdom is law. There is no sense in prolonging the inevitable."

Specter Knight turned to Missy. "I will see you both back at the village."

"What do you…" Missy started to ask. But before she could finish, Specter leaped from the boat straight towards the Troupple King, scythe out.

Acolyte shrieked.

Specter Knight swung his scythe into The Troupple King and used the swing to propel himself forwards from there. The Troupple King groaned in pain.

"So it is a fight you want, wraith?" the Troupple King boomed out.

But Specter Knight was long gone. He had flown up and over the cave, past the treetops, and out of sight. 

Even so, he could hear the Troupple King's echoing warning from back in the bog:

"You cannot escape death forever. Your days are numbered."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And chapter 2! More are written in the backlog, but when those run out, you'll have to bear with me in real time haha


	3. A Flight of Fancy

Specter Knight cursed himself as he flew out of the bog. Why had he ever thought a king would help him? When had kings and knights ever helped him? This had been a fool's errand from the start. He clenched his fist in rage as he flew.

As he reached the outskirts of the bog, an enterprising Troupple leaped from the water in an attempt to bludgeon him. Specter exhaled sharply and curled his cloak in on himself, teleporting a few dozen feet away. The Troupple landed fruitlessly back in the water.

At the very least, this trip hadn't been a complete waste of time. He had lived up to his end of the bargain, as unfortunate as that had turned out. Now it was time for Missy to live up to hers.

\---

The Eastern entrance of the Village wasn't so much an entrance as it was a slow sprawl of town buildings that scattered into farmland. On the one hand, there weren't a lot of buildings to hide in or between, but on the other hand, there wasn't a terribly high amount of foot traffic. There was even a nearby tree with branches he could hide in if he chose.

But since he made good time in traveling back to the village, he decided to poke around to see if he couldn't find Chester himself. And accursed as the Troupple King might be, his ichor had certainly done the trick-- his scent didn't catch any attention from any of the people in town. In his blue cloak and armor, he blended in with the crowd nicely enough for his purposes.

So he headed to the underground tavern to kill some time while he waited for Missy and Acolyte.

Unfortunately, Chester was nowhere to be seen-- not in the tavern or its adjoining room. Specter Knight took to a dark corner of the room and waited, listening to see if anyone mentioned where he'd gone.

"Scuse me, sir, can I interest you in a drink?" the Juice Maid said to him from behind the bar.

Back in the day, he'd spent many an evening getting drinks with Luan, usually after an especially lucky heist. And what he wouldn't do for a good lager right now. But he was dead, so it was out of the question, and he had it on good authority that alcohol didn't work on the deceased anyway. Goodness knows that enough of his Boneclang soldiers had tried. All of those experiments ended poorly in one way or another.

"Not today," he replied stiffly. But upon hearing his voice, one of the women at the bar stood up.

"That voice… Could it be?" She turned around with an icy fury.

It was that dancer from the Tower. Specter cursed under his breath.

"You… you dare show your face in this town?" she cried out. "After you spurned me and the gift I gave you? I learned that dance just for you! To bring joy to that dreary tower!" She slammed her fist on the bar. "And what did you call my life profession?!"

Specter said nothing, but quietly inched towards the exit.

"You called it foolish mirth, you cold-hearted monster!" she screamed. By now her antics had started to turn some heads. The blasted woman.

"I have no quarrel with you," Specter said coolly. "I am here waiting for a friend and do not wish to cause a disturbance."

"Oh, *now* don't want to cause a disturbance? I'll show you a disturbance, Specter Knight!" And with that, she shattered the rim of her glass on the bar and lunged towards him.

The dancer was clearly not a fighter, and she seemed somewhat intoxicated. Specter stepped easily out of her way.

"Could that really be…?" someone at a table wondered out loud.

The dancer was not deterred so easily. She swung again, this time overhead. Specter Knight easily dodged under her swing.

"The way he moves, it's like nothing I've ever seen," someone else commented.  
"Wow, that must really be him."  
"Are we all in danger?"

The dancer let out a howl as she stepped forward and swung again. Almost in lockstep with her, Specter Knight stepped backward and dodged behind her swing.

The dancer lowered her glass and laughed.

"It's like we're dancing," she said with a sad laugh as she stared at the floor. "Even now as you dodge me, I see it-- the skill behind your movements. The way you dashed through the Lich Yard was so beautiful. I thought you must be a dancer like me to move in such a way. But now I understand." Here she looked up. "You only do it when you're fighting. The precision, the control-- and you squander it on combat?!" 

By now, every eye in the room was on them. Specter Knight's undead skin crawled.

"One could say you squander your fighting potential on mere entertainment," Specter replied curtly.

"This is peace time!!" she yelled. "What use is a fighter in peace time?! At least I help people be happy. What do you do, exactly?!"

To his surprise, Specter Knight had no answer. His only reply was stunned silence.

The Juice Maid at the bar coughed slightly. "Perhaps it would be best if you--"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm leaving," the dancer said dismally. "And you-- you think you lord your superiority over us. Pathetic. I hope your contempt is as satisfying for you as it is heartless to everyone else."

Then she went to exit the bar, stumbling slightly on her way out. Specter Knight had nothing to say. After an excruciating moment of stares from the people in the building, he left the bar to return to the tree on the outskirts of town, where he decided he never should have left.

As he left, a green face stopped peeking around the corner of the opposite wall. Mona returned to her notebook as she pondered exactly what she had just witnessed.

\---

People were just too much trouble, Specter Knight decided. Their superficial emotions bent to the fickle whims of circumstance like a candle in the wind, dancing every which way without any meaning to them. There was no scrutability to it, no pattern, just reactions in the face of an unchanging, uncaring world. What use was it to ingratiate oneself to something so temporary and unpredictable?

As he brooded, his mood soured further, and he became distracted from his task. Eventually, a voice broke him from his thoughts:

"Specty, is that you up there?"

Specter Knight looked down from the tree. Missy and Acolyte looked up from the dirt pathway. Specter sighed and leaped down from the branch.

"Oh Specty, we were so worried about you!" Missy said as she pulled him into a hug.

"Hurrk--" Specter Knight grunted in surprise.

"Oh! Sorry, I got a little carried away," Missy said with embarrassment as she let him go. "But that seemed like a tight spot you were in. I'm glad you escaped the bog unharmed."  
"Were it not for the so-called wisdom of the Troupple King, there would have been no problem," Specter Knight said bitterly.  
"Hey! The Troupple King was able to help with your… ahem… other problems, and cannot be entirely blamed," Acolyte pointed out. "But… yes, even His Kingliness can make errors of judgment. I think His lack of knowledge on the undead has clouded his judgment, and I am truly sorry for the pain caused to you." Acolyte gave a deep bow.

"I also owe you an apology," Missy added. "This whole thing was my idea. If I hadn't tried to push you into it, none of this would have happened." She bowed as well.  
"Stand up," Specter Knight ordered gruffly. "I can recognize that your actions came about as a result of good intentions. I can hardly fault you for that."

"You know that neither of us would ever intentionally wish harm on you, right?" Missy said earnestly.  
"Well, technically, I've been ordered by The Troupple King to kill you on sight," Acolyte clarified awkwardly. Missy elbowed him in the ribs. "But don't worry! I promise I won't actually do it." 

"You couldn't if you tried," Specter warned.   
Acolyte laughed. "Yeah, that's probably also true."

"Anyways, it's time I owned up to my end of the bargain," Missy said seriously. "Acolyte, when have you last heard from Chester? Do you know where he's headed next?"  
Acolyte nodded in recognition. "Yes, Chester often talks about his travels in the tavern in the village. He frequently visits all parts of the land on his hunt for relics to sell. If I recall correctly, he is likely aboard Propeller Knight's airships this time of the week."

Specter Knight nodded. "I appreciate the information."

Missy grinned. "I should probably get back to the Outpost, but if you need anything, please come ask for help! You aren't in this alone. You have friends to support you."  
"Same here," Acolyte added. "I'll be at the tavern if you need me."

Specter Knight chuckled. "I likely won't be returning to the tavern for some time. But I'll keep your offer in mind."

Then the three parted ways and went about their separate journeys.

As Specter Knight left the village, he considered the merits of paying Reize a visit. But he decided against it. Reize didn't need any more instability in his life, least of all the brand of chaos that Specter Knight brought with him. He was better off with the hedgehog family, surely.

And with that, Specter Knight took to the skies towards the grand Flying Machine.

\---

As its name might indicate, the Flying Machine spent much of its time soaring through the skies in search of adventure. However, Acolyte's word was good, and the Flying Machine currently sat anchored at the mountain near the former Tower of Fate. It was perfect timing for someone to sneak aboard, such as Chester or Specter Knight.

This wasn't Specter Knight's first time at the rodeo, so to speak. He easily leaped and slashed up to the ladder that would lead him to his fate.

Because it had taken the better part of the day for him to get here, the Flying Machine and its fleet were bathed in the beautiful oranges and reds of sunset, golden plating gleaming in the twilight. It made for a truly stunning sight, Specter Knight had to admit, although he couldn't afford to get distracted from his mission. He would get his locket back, and Chester would help him do it.

As he leaped and dashed through the familiar obstacles of the Flying Machine, Specter started to think about what he would say to Chester when he found him. Would he need to bribe him? Threaten him? Bargain? Paying him off seemed the most likely, and Specter had gold to spare. But what if Chester decided to play hardball? How would he extract this information?

The sudden appearance of a familiar figure broke Specter from his train of thought:

"Ah, Specter Knight, mon ami, it has been far too long!" Propeller Knight said with a flourish as he hopped to the platform Specter Knight was standing on.

Specter Knight froze.

"No need for the sneaking and hiding! We are no longer the rulers of the skies, but a luxurious getaway vessel!" Propeller Knight gestured grandly to his fleet of ships.

"I have no need for your… services," Specter Knight said with irritation. "I am looking for Chester the merchant. I have business with him."

Propeller gave a laugh. "Ah, dear Chester. What illicit substances might you be trying to acquire, I wonder?"

Specter Knight hissed dangerously.

Propeller chuckled. "No, no, I won't ask. Your business is your business, and even the undead deserve the finer pleasures of life! Sadly, your timing is, shall we say, not quite right. Chester will not be joining us until tomorrow morning."

"Very well," Specter said courteously. "Then I shall return then."  
"Nonsense!" Propeller Knight exclaimed. "I have seldom seen a being in need of relaxation as much as you!"  
Specter glared at Propeller. "What do you mean by that?"

Propeller gestured to him. "Look at your posture! All hunched over like an elastic band pulled too tight. You carry your stress in your shoulders. It's not good for a person, dead or not. Think of the good that a world-class masseuse could do you! My treat!"

Specter Knight was left at a loss for words.  
"...I decline," he finally managed, sounding uncomfortable.

"Yes, yes, but what about a world-class meal? A bed stuffed with the finest Birder down? How long has it been since you've had a proper bath?" Propeller Knight edged closer. "If you must wait until tomorrow, would you rather do so in the rough wilderness below, or in the height of luxury above? I will be offended if you say that you would prefer to rough it!" He laughed.

Specter Knight considered. He had been at this locket business for nearly a day and a half straight with no real rest, and his exhaustion was starting to catch up with him. Perhaps it would do him some good.

"Very well," Specter Knight relented. 

"Ah, joy of joys!" Propeller Knight clapped in excitement. "As it so happens, I had an empty room for tonight, and it would be a shame for its luxury to go unappreciated. Perhaps, if you like what you see, you would come back another day as a paying customer?"   
"Don't push it," Specter Knight growled.  
"Of course, of course!" Propeller chuckled. "Let me show you to your accommodations."

It didn't take long for them to reach the quarters of the ship. Escaping the depths of the cargo hold where Specter had entered took some maneuvering, but it was nothing Specter couldn't handle. If he had been this proficient at flight back when he tried to recruit Propeller to the Order, he wouldn't have had so much difficulty back then. Now, it was a breeze.

"Your quarters," Propeller said with a bow as he opened the door to one of the rooms. 

The room inside had hardwood floors, gold-plated walls, and expensive-looking furniture. A soft down bed sat in the corner, and there was even a small marble pool on the opposite wall, big enough for one person.

"This tap gives cold water, and this one hot," Propeller said as he pointed out the taps on the wall. "And this button turns on the bubbles! You simply must give it a try." 

Specter Knight shuddered to think of the fuel expense of transporting all of that water. It was surely over the top, just like everything else Propeller Knight did. What an odd character.

"And with that, I will leave you to your accommodations, but please do not hesitate to let us know if we can be of assistance!" Propeller Knight called out as he flitted away like a glittering insect.

Specter Knight had never been in a bubbling pool before. What better way to pass the time, he supposed? He located a set of complimentary swimwear in the drawer of one of the dressers and decided to get changed.

\---

In all the time that he had been dead, he had never spent an extended time out of his armor. At first, it seemed pointless to witness the damage that his body had undertaken when he assumed he would be restored to his former self. Later, when it became clear that his condition was permanent, he saw little purpose in dwelling on the fact. His fleshen vessel was sufficient for him to wield his scythe. Little else had mattered while in the service of the Enchantress.

He had taken particular pains to not look at his undead face in a mirror. Whatever death had done to his appearance was surely not worth viewing. He had lowered his visor and left it that way ever since-- until now. He removed his visor and sat it by the pool's edge.

There in the jacuzzi pool, he was struck by how strange it was to view the world unbisected by the lines of his visor. It had been a long time. He appreciated the unbroken sunset as it streamed in through the window of the vessel. It was a beautiful sight, and he was hesitant to break his gaze from it.

But eventually, with his armor and gloves off, he dared to look at his undead arm to see what exactly had been done to him that night so many years before.

He was not surprised by the way his muscles had atrophied over the years. He had guessed as much from the looseness in his armor. He was also not surprised by the withered appearance of the limb. It seemed to have been mummified and discolored, and had the appearance of a skeleton with a thin veneer of skin stretched taut across it.

No, what surprised him was the numbness. When he touched the cold marble of the pool's rim, the sensation was much duller than he remembered from when he was alive. His own body was as far removed from him as a live cow was from a leather jacket. Instead of inhabiting his own skin, his soul merely wore it like a pair of gloves. He was a ghost possessing his own corpse.

He sighed deeply and sank deeper into the bubbling waters of the pool. It was the Enchantress's magic that perpetuated his existence. By all rights, he should have disappeared from existence when her reign ended. Why was he still here? 

And though he shuddered at the thought, he couldn't stop his mind from thinking it: could Phantom Striker and the Troupple King be right about him? Was his fate to be laid to rest like the rest of the dead?

No, not until he had found his locket, Specter Knight decided. He had unfinished business on this mortal plane, and he would not depart while it was still unfinished. He would not will it.

Eventually, he exited the pool and put his armor back on, still careful not to look in the mirror, before finally heading to bed. True to Propeller's word, it was a fine down mattress-- much more comfortable than the ground outdoors, or even his own hammock back at his hideout. 

Though as a member of the undead, he didn't strictly need sleep, it was still nice from time to time. Today could be a day of indulgence. Eventually Specter Knight drifted off into an uneasy slumber.

\---

His dreams were memories, forced upon him by his straining mind, inescapable like a dark smog in the night. 

In these dreams, he relived being trapped under the rubble of the Tower of Fate, with tower debris crushing his spine. He relived struggling desperately against its weight as it slowly crushed him to death.

He relived bartering with the Enchantress, and of her scythe splitting him in two. He remembered, in excruciating detail, how it felt for his heart to stop beating, his blood vessels to wither inside him, for his skin to turn to leather. 

He relived looking back at the rubble and thinking of Luan, who was trapped and dead underneath. It was Donovan's fault. If he hadn't pushed Shield Knight into a fight, if he'd left when Luan suggested instead of lashing out…

Here the dream took a different turn. Instead of walking away as he had, he turned back and started digging endlessly through the debris. If he could just find Luan, he could apologize and save him, and everything could go back to the way it used to be. This long nightmare would be over. It wouldn't be his fault anymore if he could only save his friend, his best friend, his closest and dearest partner, the light of his life, the grief of his afterlife...

\---

Specter Knight awoke slowly and painfully to the beam of light streaming in through the window. 

He'd failed to protect Luan from the Tower, failed to protect Reize from the Enchantress, and now he couldn't even keep his keepsake locket, his last reminder of Luan, from harm's way. Luan was dead, and now this last echo of him was gone. Because of Donovan. Because of Specter Knight. Because of his own failure and shortcomings. Specter Knight's undead corpse had no tears to shed, and yet he sobbed.

Some pain is too much to bear. It threatens to crush its victims underfoot like Sisyphus's boulder, rolling up and down the mountain endlessly without truly reaching the top-- but always managing to end up at rock bottom eventually. That was the rock bottom that Specter Knight knew now.

Though he had always known, he was reminded in that moment that the regret of losing Luan would be with him through the rest of his existence, and no spell or magic could take that grief away from him. He would carry it with him always, as an albatross around his neck that was heavier than any locket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Specty. Life's hard when you're not alive
> 
> Also what kind of nerd wears armor to bed? You goof


	4. Familiar Faces

Specter Knight emerged from his room.

"Best of mornings to you, sir!" Propeller Knight said cordially. Of course. Of course he was just there in the hall, chipper as ever at this early hour of the morning.   
"Where's Chester," Specter Knight growled, sounding tired.  
"Is something wrong?" Propeller asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost-- er, which is to say, you don't look as relaxed as one might…"  
"Just tell me where Chester is," Specter Knight said sharply, cutting him off.

Propeller Knight flinched. "O-of course," he said as he walked down the hall, sounding a bit disappointed. "I hope the accommodations were to your liking is all."  
Specter Knight sighed. "The accommodations were of top quality. I had a difficult night, but it was not your doing. Thank you for your generosity."  
Propeller Knight seemed to brighten a bit. "That I am glad for. I am terribly sorry to hear of your difficult night, though."  
"Think nothing of it," Specter Knight said dismissively. "Let us go find Chester."

Propeller led the way through the quarters and onward to an elegant conference room. The room had floor-to-ceiling windows on its three outer walls, and expensive wood for its floor and furniture. A long table filled the room, with a dozen or so finely carved chairs surrounding it. On the opposite side of the room sat Chester, his arms crossed smugly across his chest.

"I will leave you two to it!" Propeller Knight said as he shut the door behind him.

Specter sat down at the opposite end of the long table, as far from Chester as possible.

Chester laughed. "Always so stuffy, aren't you? But you went to great lengths to find me, I'm told. What could be so important to one of your status? Or are you here to sell more stolen merchandise, Donovan?" A poised, calculated smirk spread across his face.

Specter Knight clenched his fists. Chester was trying to rattle him-- to set him off balance so he'd make a mistake. It wouldn't work.

"I'm not in the selling business this time around," Specter Knight said darkly. "I'm here to ask about a previous item you sold."

Chester snickered. "Are you sure? I've got this rare green ichor from the Troupple King himself that could help with--"  
"Silence!" Specter Knight barked. "I have come to ask about the fate of a locket that came into your possession-- and nothing more. Do you understand?"

Chester leaned back in his chair. "I hear ya. Problem is, most of my clientele prefer to not make themselves known, you see. I traffic in a variety of wares, some of which could be considered embarrassing, so I don't make a habit of spreading their personal business where it doesn't belong." 

"That information belongs to me because it was my locket that was stolen," Specter Knight snapped. "I must know its destination so I can retrieve it."

"Getting sentimental over there, Donovan? I never knew you to be the type." Chester grinned. "I suppose time made mad fools of us all." 

Specter Knight sighed. "Just tell me who you sold it to."

Chester tapped his chin with one finger. "You know, my memory's a bit hazy. What locket were you asking about again?" He rubbed his thumb and fingers together, clearly looking for money.

Specter Knight growled. "Do not play games with me. I know that Plague Knight traded it to you for some god-forsaken alchemist equipment."

Chester laughed. "Ah, that locket. I can't give that information out for free anyhow. Might you have any relics to trade? Or failing that, an heirloom, or perhaps a curio?"

Specter Knight thought to the curios that Red had given to him in the Tower.

"I have… nothing to barter," Specter said carefully. "But I have coin. Name your price."

Chester's brow raised from under his face mask. He leaned forward onto the table, his dreadlocks falling over his shoulders.

"A dangerous move," Chester said with a grin. "50,000 gold."  
"Try again."  
"55,000."  
"Do not toy with me."

Chester clicked his tongue in disapproval. "Perhaps you don't understand the situation you're in. I have no reason to give you this information. You need to make it worth my while to go against my integrity as a businessman."  
"Your integrity as a businessman?! Don't make me laugh!" Specter Knight snarled. "There is no integrity in buying and reselling stolen goods. You made your bed, and now you can lie in it."  
"You aren't doing a good job of convincing me," Chester said coolly.  
"Perhaps my scythe will convince you!" Specter Knight hissed.  
"That's really not a good idea," Chester said, still smiling. "I deal in weapons. It would be a fool's move to not save the best relics for myself, wouldn't it?"  
Specter Knight summoned his scythe.  
Chester locked eyes with Specter. "Is that really a risk you're willing to take?"

Specter Knight returned the gaze for a long moment…

...but he eventually put his scythe away.

Chester drummed his fingers on the table. "Amateur mistake-- you tipped your hand. You're desperate, aren't you? For one reason or another, this isn't a deal you can walk away from. Well, I'm fine with that. 75,000 gold."

Specter Knight snarled. "Do not insult me."

Chester raised his eyebrows. "Actually, I have a better idea. Rumor has it that King Knight has a powerful array of heirlooms, which are relics' inferior counterparts. Bring me the full set of ten, and I'll tell you the name."

Specter Knight considered.  
"You're extraordinarily hard to get ahold of," Specter said pointedly. "How would I know where to find you to return the merchandise?"

Chester gave a half smile. "I have ways of making myself available to those I have business with. You'll find me at the tavern in the Village."

Specter Knight thought of the intoxicated dancer at the tavern and sighed. He didn't relish the thought of returning to the tavern. Unless...

"Very well," he told Chester. "I thought I had left my days of petty theft behind me."  
"You always were one of my best sources of merchandise," Chester said fondly. "With your new skillset, I can't imagine this will be much of a challenge."  
"And knowing you, I'm sure you'll make a killing from the resale value," Specter said curtly.  
Chester laughed.  
"Too true, too true, chum," he agreed. "Well, I ought to let you get to it, shouldn't I?"  
"This isn't over," Specter Knight promised as he stormed out of the room.   
Chester grinned. "I sure hope not!"

\---

Specter Knight stormed off with his fists clenched at his sides. Chester was an infuriating man. Each time Specter Knight interacted with him, he swore never to go back, but he was so infuriatingly useful that Specter found himself returning time and time again, even against his better judgment.

But not this time. As much as Specter Knight relished the thought of destroying King Knight in a fight, time was of the essence. And he had a few other ideas to try before he did Chester's dirty work for him.

For now, it was back to the Lich Yard. Specter Knight took to the skies.

\---

Even the light of noon failed to break through the supernatural clouds hanging over the Lich Yard. It was as dark and gloomy out as it was in the middle of the night. But Specter Knight would take this land over the disgusting Troupple bogs any time. 

As he slowly made his descent from above the clouds, he searched the Lich Yard buildings for one in particular. He'd never approached it from the sky before, but it was one he walked to regularly. Finally he located it and landed on the path outside.

He walked up to the door and gave it a knock.

"Specter Knight! What a pleasant surprise! Come in, come in!" Red said warmly, his skeletal face coming as close to a smile as it could. "Scarlet, we have a guest!"

"Oh?" a voice called out from the next room. A moment later, a second red skeleton walked in. "Oh, Specter Knight! It is so good to see you!" Scarlet clasped her hands in joy. "Can I offer you a cup of Will? Or perhaps some Darkness?"

"Another time," Specter Knight said with uncommon warmth as he sat down on the moth-bitten couch. "For now, Red, I come because I need to ask you a favor."

Red sat down next to him and clasped his shoulder. "My friend, you reunited me with my beloved. I would walk to the ends of the earth for you."

Specter Knight chuckled. "Hopefully this task won't be so arduous as that. I know that you worked in life as a Curio hunter. How experienced are you in hunting Relics?"

Scarlet overheard and jumped up and down with glee. "Ooh, that's my area of expertise! Please, tell us everything!"

Specter Knight coughed uncomfortably. "So, say I had a locket that had been stolen, but I was unable to track where it had been taken to. Would it be within either of your powers to locate it?"

Red folded his arms. "Wait, when you say a locket, you don't mean THE locket…"

Specter Knight gave a resigned nod.

"No!" Scarlet gasped, covering her mouth.  
Red looked down. "I am truly sorry to hear this, friend."  
Scarlet thought for a moment. "Perhaps, if you could take me to the scene of the crime, I could discern the identity of the thief…"  
"That part isn't the problem," Specter Knight said coldly. "The thief has been identified and handled, but he sold it to a shady merchant who refuses to tell me anything about the buyer."

"I see," Scarlet said, the gears in her head turning. "What a conundrum."  
Red turned to Scarlet. "Specter would know the dimensions and abilities of the locket, so perhaps a scrying spell of some kind?"  
"Perhaps," Scarlet said slowly, "but it would take time. If we could eliminate any buyers from consideration, it would be faster. What magic did you say the locket had, again?"  
"The Enchantress turned it into a vessel for energy," Specter Knight answered. "When I recruited eight knights to her cause, she told me it would have the power to restore my life."

Scarlet glanced at Red on the couch. "That is what made it so important to him?"  
"And the… sentimental value," Specter Knight said quietly.  
Scarlet nodded. "I see. And the energy in the locket obviously did not work as intended…"  
"No, it served a different purpose in releasing Reize from the amulet's grasp," Specter clarified.  
"A good use of its energy," Scarlet said approvingly. "If it makes you feel better, it likely would not have succeeded in doing what you had hoped it would. Dead creatures can only be restored to undead, not to true life."

Hearing those words dealt a heavy blow to Specter's morale. He stared at the floor.

"I'm sorry," Scarlet said mournfully. "If I knew a way for us to regain what we have lost, I would tell you right away."

Specter Knight nodded. "I understand," he said, though his heart was heavy.  
Red brought his skeletal fist down into his other hand. "We cannot lose focus or lose heart. The locket is still out there, and someone bought it. What would they have to gain from an empty vessel?"  
Scarlet looked up in recognition. "It would not be an empty vessel! It would have filled up with other energy and granted different magic than its original purpose."  
Red nodded. "Of course! And since Specter was the owner and he is filled with the magic of the Enchantress, it would have taken on the properties of the undead."  
Scarlet nodded. "If I were to guess, it bestows the owner with either immortality or intangibility. Either would be in high demand among the living."  
"But not among the undead," Specter pointed out.

Scarlet nodded. "Of course! So if I design a scrying spell that searches for the energy of the undead, and I filter by the energy of the living, the result should be a map of places where living and undead energy match. These hubs of activity would be the likely locations for your locket!"

Red stood up and hugged her. "I love you, my sweet. Your intellect has won me over a hundred times, and today makes a hundred and one."  
"Oh stop it, Red," she said adoringly as she hugged him back. 

Specter Knight chuckled. Those lovebirds.

"Red, there's one more thing," Scarlet realized suddenly as she joined them on the couch. "We'll need a way to display the information from the scrying spell. The only magical object I can think of that operates in such a way is the Mirror of Fate, and that should have been destroyed long ago."  
"Hmm," Red said thoughtfully. "Perhaps it is time to pay a visit to the ruins of the Tower, then. There must be a shard of the mirror somewhere in the rubble."

That struck Specter Knight as somewhat unlikely. He had been there when the Tower had collapsed. An enormous explosion at the base had destroyed the entire first level, and everything on top, including any ruins of the mirror, would have been demolished in the collapse. It would take a true stroke of luck to find such a delicate object in the debris.

"I don't suppose my Shadow Mirror would do the trick?" Specter asked.  
"Maybe, but it would take a lot longer," Scarlet said, drumming her fingers on the armrest of the couch.  
"It may also be worth checking with Missy and Acolyte. They knew more about the Mirror's construction than most anyone," Red added.  
Scarlet nodded. "Let's start there, and then we can move forward based on their advice."  
Specter Knight nodded. "Then we are in agreement."

\---

The three of them set up a plan and a rendezvous point. Specter Knight, the fastest traveler, flew to the Outpost to contact Missy about the situation. Red and Scarlet claimed they had a way to contact Acolyte in the tavern without themselves scaring the townsfolk, but when pressed, said it was a "skeleton secret." When the crew had been gathered, the plan was to meet up at Red and Scarlets' house in the Lich Yard.

And a few hours later, the five of them did exactly that.

"This is so exciting!" Missy said as she walked through the door. "With the five of us back together again, it's almost like old times, except we aren't under the Enchantress's hold anymore!"

"Yeah!" Acolyte joined in. "There's nothing the five of us can't do!"

"Yay team undead!" Missy cheered.  
"Or maybe team darkness, since you and I are alive?" Acolyte suggested.  
"Team lich yard!"  
"Yeah!"

Scarlet laughed. "Your energy is contagious. I wish I had you around to encourage me to do housecleaning! Take a seat and we can figure this out."

The living room had a small coffee table in the center with couches on either side. Scarlet and Red took the loveseat for themselves, and Acolyte, Missy, and Specter took the seats opposite them.

"So, what are we doing?" Acolyte asked.

Scarlet and Red explained the magical schematics of what they wanted to do, most of which went over Specter Knight's head. 

Missy seemed understand, though, and added suggestions as she saw fit. Acolyte made a few interjections as well.

"So if I'm understanding this right, we don't need the Mirror of Fate at all," Missy said thoughtfully. "My own summoning magic could be used for the long distance aspect of the spell, and with your energy tracking, that should be all the raw data we need."

Acolyte nodded. "I could jury rig Specter Knight's Shadow Mirror to display the map, and we'd be able to see anything within Missy's summoning distance-- in other words, the entire land, basically."

Scarlet clapped her hands. "You two are brilliant! I think this stands a real chance of working."

Specter Knight was uneasy, though. "You aren't going to turn my curio into another monster, are you?"

Acolyte's face turned as red as his Troupple robes. "That was a one-time mistake! You saw me operate the mirror without any problems repeatedly! It won't happen again!"

Missy gave a nervous laugh. "I don't know what happened that time, but this is far less risky magic. We aren't trying to trap anyone in anything, just gather information. The risks are minimal."

Red nodded. "Let's get this together and see what we can do!"

Scarlet, as it turned out, had an old divining rod relic that could indicate traces of living and undead energy. Acolyte did something to connect this to the Shadow Mirror, and they were all able to see their own energy signatures on the mirror's surface, with living signatures in yellow and undead in blue.

"Well, that's step one right there!" Red said proudly. "Next we need to see if Missy can override its coordinates."

Missy cracked her knuckles and grasped the divining rod, focusing intently. Then she closed her eyes, and the mirror lit up in blue with a few stray yellow dots.

Scarlet clapped. "Excellent!"

Missy smiled as she exhaled the breath she'd been holding. "That's the reading for the Lich Yard as a whole. Getting readings for the whole land will take some time. We'll need a map of the land and someone to take notes."

Scarlet dug up a map from a back closet, and they set to work. Red would read the coordinates from the map, Missy would generate the data, Acolyte would translate it from the mirror to the geography of the land, and Scarlet and Specter Knight took turns transcribing the data directly to the paper. 

After a few painstaking hours of this, their task was finished and the map was full. 

The Village and Armor Outpost were predictably mostly yellow dots. Likewise, the Lich Yard and Hall of Champions were almost entirely blue. The area outside the Stranded Ship had hardly any dots at all.

"What is that blue dot outside Pridemoor Keep?" Missy pointed out, catching her breath from the hours of casting.  
"Probably King Knight's residence. He has an old set of Joustus cards I gave him," Specter answered with a bitter laugh. "The vain fool seemingly destroyed every Joustus card he could get his hands on-- except his own."

"Oh, Joustus," Red reminisced. "That takes me back. It was just about the only good thing the Enchantress ever did."

"It was a fun game!" Missy agreed. "I still have my cards because I didn't care to follow King Knight's orders. He can pry them from my cold dead fingers if he wants them!" Missy grinned.

"I kept mine as well," Specter Knight admitted, "but although my fingers are cold and dead, he still can't have them." Everyone laughed.

"What are all of these blue dots in the Lost City?" Scarlet pointed out.  
"Work exchange program," Specter Knight answered. "Mole Knight needs workers, and generally speaking, Boneclangs need something to do so they don't get bored. It was the logical conclusion. Same with the Explodatorium."  
"And that's the tavern there, isn't it?" Red pointed out. "There are a few blue dots there, too."  
"Ooh, I know this one!" Acolyte said excitedly. "Chester frequents there, and I'd be shocked if he didn't have a few undead relics on him at any given time.

Using similar logic, they were able to account for all of the patches of blue on the map… except one.

"The one thing still bothering me is this blue patch out in the Plains of Passage," Missy said, sounding puzzled as she gestured towards the map.  
"Could there be an old settlement there? Or perhaps an unknown graveyard?" Acolyte wondered.  
Red shook his head. "The Plains of Passage are famously antagonistic towards settlement, whether by the living or the dead. Too many dragons and drakes around for most people's liking."  
"Except for Black Knight," Specter said, thinking aloud. "He can generally be found there. But he is alive, so it can't be him."  
Missy raised her eyebrows. "Unless the signal of the undead energy crowded out the other signals in the area. Let me see if I can get a more accurate picture."

Missy bit her lip and focused her energy. After a long moment of visible strain on her part, the dots on the mirror crystallized into two familiar figures, and a locket-shaped patch of blue.

"Shield Knight and Shovel Knight," Specter Knight hissed. "I thought you better than this, you spade-wielding cur. But if I must face Shield Knight again in battle, I suppose this is the best way to do it."

At that moment, Missy's stamina wore out and the signal was lost. She struggled to catch her breath.

"Thank you, Missy," Specter Knight said with uncharacteristic gentleness. "And thank you to the rest of you, too. Your help has been invaluable. Now I can fetch what is rightfully mine and be done with this nonsense."

"What do you mean, *you* can fetch?" Scarlet asked pointedly. "I hope you weren't misled into thinking you'd be going alone?"

Red nodded in agreement. "I'm in this now, and I'm seeing this through to the end. Under no circumstances will I let a friend go alone up against two of the strongest knights in the land."

Specter Knight shook his head sharply. "Absolutely not. I will settle this alone. It is for the best if you--"

Suddenly a pair of hands shook him roughly by the shoulders. Specter Knight went silent.

"How can I make you understand?" Missy cried out in frustration. "You don't need to do this alone! You never did! You push us all away like you don't trust us, and it's hurtful, quite frankly!"

The room went dead silent. This was the first time any of them had seen Missy angry.

"You disappear for days at a time. You don't think to tell us where you're going or when you'll return. In the rare instance that you do allow us to help you, you won't even trust us with the details of what you need help with unless you're forced to!" Missy shouted. "Do you really think so highly of yourself to think you could take both of them at once? Have you ever actually beaten Shovel Knight in combat in a one-on-one match, let alone with Shield Knight playing interference? Augh!" Missy let out an exasperated yell.

"Do you truly believe we cannot help you? Do you truly view us with such contempt?!"

Specter Knight clenched his fists.

"I have heard enough," he said, voice dangerously low.  
"I'm not sure you have!" Missy shot back. "We aren't going to die on you. We're not Luan!"

Luan.

Suddenly he was back in the Tower as it crumbled around him.  
"I never knew you as a coward, Luan! We'll leave once we have our prize!" he remembered shouting.  
"Please, Donovan, I'm begging you! Leave the amulet, it's not worth it!"  
"Never! Out of my way!!!"

He pulled out his blade and bludgeoned him with its flat, knocking him against a wall and into unconsciousness. The tower had collapsed shortly thereafter, crushing him under his weight. The last thing Luan would have remembered was staring down the blade of someone he considered a friend before death claimed him.

But that wasn't now. That was a long time ago.

In the present, he'd drawn his scythe in anger.  
In the present, Acolyte had screamed.  
In the present, Red and Scarlet had restrained him.  
In the present, Missy's eyes were wide and brimming with tears as she stared down the blade of someone she'd thought of as a friend.

And Specter Knight remembered-- the tower hadn't claimed Luan's life. He had. Just as he'd nearly claimed Missy's…?

In the present, Specter Knight returned to his senses to witness the scene he'd caused. He took a shaky breath and let his scythe disappear. 

Red and Scarlet relaxed their grasps on his arms.   
Then Red turned to Specter, looking sad somehow. Specter burned with shame. 

Whatever Red had to say, he couldn't hear it right now. He broke free of their grasp and ran from their house, trembling with every step.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some complex interpersonal dynamics here. please give it a chance to resolve before condemning any of these characters as unforgivable monsters


	5. The Ends of the Earth

The trouble with running from oneself is that there is nowhere far enough away one can go to escape.

When Specter Knight took to the clouds, he told himself he just needed to clear his head. Normally he went to the Lich Yard for solitude, but since the place he needed to leave happened to be the Lich Yard, that left the skies. If he flew far enough, he'd reach the peaks of Birder Bluffs, where he could hide himself away and never face the shame of what he just did.

There was nowhere far enough away to run to, but that wouldn't stop him from trying. He flew eastward into the sky and didn't look back.

He flew listlessly for hours, scarcely thinking, scarcely noticing the scenery. The ocean passed by into the frigid South, the volcano slowly morphed into towering peaks and into Clockwork tower, and the sun slowly drooped beyond the horizon, casting the shadow of nightfall upon the Valley as it blurred past far below.

There was nowhere far enough away to run to. He could fly to the ends of the earth and still not find peace. 

When he saw the massive crater below, he realized that he essentially had. Flown to the end of the earth, that is. Peace eluded him yet.

Specter Knight slowly descended into the crater. 

He'd never visited the ruins of the Tower after it was destroyed. The alchemists' handiwork had been more than sufficient to level the structure, leaving nothing worth salvaging behind, and there was no sense dwelling on the memories left behind there.

Or so he'd thought. But this was Luan's grave, after all. He owed it to Luan to pay his respects, didn't he?

Some parts of the landscape were familiar. The former bridge to the Tower entrance had collapsed, but the river below streamed around its debris. Specter also recognized the fallen remnants of the parapet he had spent so much time on. The rest of the Tower lay in crumbled piles of indeterminate violet stone. 

On the one hand, it was tragic to see such an ancient structure fall. But on the other hand, good riddance.

Remembering the route to the amulet room from the parapet, Specter Knight carefully counted his steps and made his way up the pile of rubble until he reached a spot near the center.

"This is about as close as I can get," Specter Knight said to himself as he stared down into the depths of the earth. "But you're somewhere down there, aren't you, Luan?"

Specter was met with no response, but continued anyway.

"Reize is growing into a fine young man. He's strong. He'll make a formidable knight one day. Noble, too. His heart takes after his father."

Specter was met with the silence of the crater, followed slowly by cricket noises as night fell.

"Luan, I wonder what you would think," Specter said seriously, and a little somberly, even. "I was not the friend and partner you deserved in life, and I fear I've grown worse in death. You helped me rein in my worst instincts, and I fall prey to them often in your absence. You must be... disappointed in what I have become, in the shell that I am without you."

Specter sighed and clenched his trembling fists, drawing in a painful breath.

"I wish you were here every moment of every day. I wish I could apologize for my shortcomings and tell you that you were right. You were always right. I never should have doubted you. If I hadn't…"

Specter Knight trailed off. He couldn't bring himself to say the words, even though he thought them every day. Instead, he sat down in the rubble and picked up a small piece of rubble, turning it over in his gloved hands. He could barely feel its weight. 

His mind churned through his memories of the Tower heist. Sometimes it felt like that was all he ever did anymore-- relive that moment in slow motion, over and over, unable to escape its inevitability. It weighed on him like grave dirt weighed on a casket. 

He threw the rubble into the pile harshly, sending out a loud cracking sound. Specter didn't care.

But somebody else did.  
"Is somebody there?" a low voice shouted from within the depths of the rubble.

Specter Knight said nothing, but neither did he try to hide.

Eventually, a short figure in dark armor emerged from the crater's depths.

"Donovan?" Black Knight said with surprise.  
"Black Knight," Specter Knight acknowledged. "What brings you here?"  
"Perhaps the same flight of fancy as you," Black Knight responded, taking a seat on some rubble several feet away. "This crater has a way of drawing those with regrets. Perhaps those with wishful thinking."  
"Indeed," Specter replied, sounding tired.

The two sat in silence for a moment.

"Did you expect to revive Luan?" Black Knight asked gently.  
"No," Specter said with resignation. "I expect he is buried under countless tons of bricks, too far down for necromancy to reach. If I couldn't find his corpse when the Tower was still standing, I won't be able to find him now."

Specter paused.  
"He's gone," he said, voice thin and shaky. "He's really and truly gone. It's been three years and I still have trouble accepting that."  
Black Knight nodded sympathetically. "It is only human to hope and to want. Accepting one's grief is a long and painful journey that never quite ends."  
"Wish as I might that the burden were lighter," Specter Knight remarked bitterly.  
"Would that I could help you with its weight."

Black Knight paused for a moment, searching for the right words.

"Luan was… a cunning fighter, and a fine man," he finally managed. "I am glad I knew him even as briefly as I did."

Specter Knight nodded slowly.

Black Knight gave a curt nod and stood up. "It is not safe to linger here, friend. Liquid samurai and other troublesome opponents tarry yet in this region. My time to leave has come. Perhaps you should as well."

As he walked away, he turned his head back one last time.

"Besides, Luan would not wish endless mourning upon you, would he? I'm sure he would want a better life for you."

Specter Knight stared at the rubble as Black Knight left. There was no "better life" available to him now-- only "prolonging the inevitable," as the Troupple King had said. 

Even putting that aside, would Luan truly want that for him, after Specter had brought about his death? Surely no reasonable person would feel that way. 

\---

In spite of Black Knight's advice, Specter stayed the night in the crater, not sleeping a wink the whole time. The liquid samurai were few in number, and they were easily dispatched by a Skeletal Sentry and a few Throwing Sickles. He didn't even need to use his scythe.

Making camp for one was so lonely, he thought. There was no campfire, no sharing rations, no stories, no laughter. Even now, in his mind's eye, he could remember Luan across from him, his grand gesticulating as he retold the stories of his most daring escapes, the mad glint in his eye as he did so. Nowhere else in the entire world had felt like home as much as those campfires. 

He pulled out his Barrier Lantern, but it was a poor substitute. He drummed his gloved fingers on its surface and lost himself in thought.

\---

Time got away from him, as it often did. 

It passed slowly and excruciatingly, dragging him unceremoniously forward there in that crater. And yet when dawn eventually crept upwards over the horizon, he couldn't actually remember anything from the last several hours. The night had marched on in what felt like no time at all.

With the passage of time came a set of footsteps on the rubble.

"There you are, friend," Red said soothingly. "It took quite some time to track you down."

Specter turned away. A complete death would be preferable to this torment.

"You cannot leave this," Red continued seriously. "You nearly hurt Missy. Scared us half to death."

"There can be no atonement for that," Specter said darkly. "There can be no forgiveness."

Red shook his head. "That is not your call to make. You are too swallowed up in your own guilt to see the people around you. Just like Missy said, you will not give her a chance-- and that's what hurt her feelings in the first place."

Specter was silent.

"What she said was out of line," Red acknowledged, "but so too was your reaction. You must take responsibility for that. There are others who might wish never to see you again after… what happened. But Missy is not one of them. Please."

Specter remained silent.

"Take some time, think it over," Red suggested. "If you would like company walking back, I would be happy to join you."

Specter nodded. "Very well."

\---

They walked in silence the short distance to Percy's (mercifully unattended) catapult, which landed them both just outside the Village. It didn't take long to reach the Lich Yard from there.

As they approached Red and Scarlets' green wooden house, Specter could see Missy and Scarlet through the front window, just sitting on the couch and talking, but he couldn't hear their words through the windowpane. Red gestured for him to enter.

He ensured his scythe was put away, breathed in, and opened the door.

As he walked in, Scarlet stiffened and grasped Missy's hand protectively, glaring at Specter. Missy took a timid breath and met his gaze.

Red quietly tiptoed into the back room with Acolyte, leaving the three of them in an unbearable silence.

"Missy…" he started. Scarlet's glare seemed to intensify. He steeled his resolve and continued.

"There are no words to excuse my behavior, so I won't try. But… I do regret my actions. I'm sorry." He hung his head.

Missy bit her lip. "No, I should be apologizing. I pushed you too far. I knew it as soon as I said the words."

Specter Knight shook his head. "That is a poor excuse for me to draw a weapon on a friend."

Missy was silent for a moment. "I've done a lot of thinking on how that happened," she said, fingers fiddling with the cuff of her dress. "I saw how you reacted to my words. You started shaking. Something in my words hurt or scared you, and that was not my intent. You weren't in your right mind."

Specter didn't respond.

"I don't think you're the kind of person to hurt someone you care about in your right mind," she continued. "Are you?"

He thought of Luan in the tower. He had been frustrated with Shield Knight's interference, and he had taken it out on Luan. That was unfair of him. Could he truly say he wasn't in his right mind, though?

"I try not to be," he replied, "but sometimes my temper leaves me shortsighted. I'm responsible for that."

"Then you need to learn to control your temper," Scarlet said sharply. "This cannot happen again."

Specter nodded. "I am in agreement. And this will not happen again."

Suddenly, Missy burst over and hugged Specter Knight.  
"Please don't push us away," she said, burying her face into his armor.

Specter Knight awkwardly patted her back once. Physical affection had never been his strong suit. But hopefully his sentiments came through.

"I still apologize," she said as she released him. "I will do better to respect your boundaries in the future. And in asking for your forgiveness, I offer mine as well."  
Specter nodded slowly.  
"I would be honored to accept."

Missy grinned. Scarlet glared at him suspiciously.  
"If you raise a hand to her again, you will answer to me, Specter," she said, pointing at his chest. "Have I made myself clear?"  
"Yes," he replied.  
"Please, let's just put this behind us," Missy said with a small smile. "Specty still has a locket to retrieve, so we have work to do." 

She then called Red and Acolyte back into the room to discuss their plan of attack.

\---

Specter protested. "I meant what I said before. You and Acolyte don't have combat training. It would be irresponsible to allow you into a battle zone."  
Missy pouted. "You don't know what I can do!"  
Scarlet put a hand on his shoulder. "Red and I should join you, at the very least. It would likewise be irresponsible of us to let you go alone."  
Red nodded in agreement. "And Missy, we can talk later. If you are completely sure you can defend yourself, we can negotiate." Missy brightened somewhat.

"Very well," Specter Knight relented. "How far into the Plains have Shovel Knight and Shield Knight gone?"

"A fair ways," Acolyte answered, gesturing to a map in his hands. "It would take several days to reach by foot, and that's just in one direction. But there are a few ways around that. You could ask the Alchemists to recalibrate the trebuchet in order to launch you there, ask Treasure Knight to transport you by submarine, ask Propeller Knight to fly you…"  
"Are there options that don't involve asking favors of people I don't get along with?" Specter Knight asked tersely.  
"Umm…" Acolyte stopped to think for a moment. "Rent a regular old horse and cart from the Village?"  
Scarlet shook her head. "The Plains of Passage are unsuitable for horses. There's no path leading through it, and there are steep cliffs and dropoffs to negotiate."  
"Specty, you can't just teleport there, can you?" Missy asked.  
"Not that far away. It's faster to fly over long distances, but I can only transport myself that way."  
Scarlet nodded in understanding. "Then perhaps we *are* better off on foot, then?"

Red suddenly raised his head like he had an idea. "Perhaps this could be of use?" He reached into his pocket and revealed a shard of violet glass the size of a rat.

Acolyte's jaw nearly hit the floor. "That… that is a shard of the Mirror of Fate! They should have all been destroyed! How in blazes did you come across that?!"  
Red tipped his blue feathered hat. "Skeleton secret," he said whimsically. "Suffice to say that a seasoned curio hunter has ways of locating magical objects. I found it outside the ruins of the Tower of Fate when I went to pick up our friend Specter." Acolyte shrugged and nodded in understanding.

Scarlet looked puzzled. "That reminds me. We saw you traveling in the surface of the mirror. What drew you to the Tower of Fate of all places, Specter?"  
Specter sighed brusquely. "A long and irrelevant story. Suffice to say I'm back now. Can the shard be used to aid in transportation?"

Acolyte's stare was locked onto the jagged shard. "If I could unlock the secrets to the magic that went into this beauty, I could do anything you could imagine," he said in an awestruck voice before coughing uncomfortably. "But… uh… yeah the spell in this shard is fragmented. The parts of the spell that I used to operate the mirror aren't here, so we'd have to jury rig something up. But there's enough of the transportation spell left that it might actually work…"

Missy gave a half-smirk. "To make something stable? We'd need a few weeks. But something technically functional? We could probably have it done by this afternoon."

"We would need your Shadow Mirror for it, though," Acolyte said thoughtfully.  
"Absolutely not," Specter Knight said immediately. "The Mirror of Fate is treacherous. The last time you tampered with that accursed thing, escaping its curse involved shattering it into pieces. I will not have my curio suffer the same fate."  
Missy turned to Acolyte. "Really, any mirror should do if we properly acclimate it to magic…" And the two started bantering back and forth in jargon that went over Specter's head.

"I've sensed that my further involvement would only get in your way, so I'll leave you to it. I'll be out in the Lich Yard if you need me," he said as he turned to leave.

Red tipped his hat. "Don't be a stranger," he said warmly. "If we could trap the Enchantress in the Mirror, we can solve this problem in no time."  
Specter sighed. "Please don't take this the wrong way. But I truly, truly hope you do a better job this time than you did then."

Red gave a lively laugh that rattled his crimson skeletal jawbone. "A fair point. Look, some mistakes were made. It happens! And life goes on, just as undeath goes on. You live and you learn. And then you die, and you still learn." He gave a thumbs up. "Just leave it to us. We'll get the job done right this time."  
"...I suppose I will have to trust you, then. Good luck," he said as he left. Red was still giving that same thumbs up as Specter shut the door behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so yeah Missy spoke insensitively and pushed Specter's boundaries, Specter had a flashback episode and lashed out, both acknowledged what they did wrong, both have promised to do better in the future. no one here is evil or abusive. they're just people doing their best and failing sometimes


	6. A Midmorning Stroll

While he waited for his friends to complete their preparations, Specter Knight decided to go on a midmorning stroll to enjoy the lovely weather. Dark clouds, distant thunder and lightning, strange magical aura arising from the persistent presence of the undead-- what could be better?

In truth, he was simply looking for some fresh air. His hideout tended to smell like mildew and mold, and its ventilation left something to be desired. May as well enjoy the great outdoors before steeping in that lovely odor for a few hours.

So he floated idly through the Lich Yard to his favorite spot in the whole place-- a small plot of land just outside the officially delineated graveyard. He passed the grand archway marking the graveyard's boundaries and sat down on a platform sticking out from a decrepit wall.

The reason this was his favorite spot in the Lich Yard was because it was among the most inaccessible spots. No matter which direction someone tried to approach from, they would be faced with difficult terrain and a labyrinthine assortment of architecture to navigate. Even those approaching from the sky would be faced with difficulty navigating the clouds, and they would betray their presence in the process.

Of course, that didn't stop various determined knights from reaching him, but the least he could do was make their path as difficult as possible. And he got to enjoy some peace and quiet in the meantime.

So what did Specter Knight hear on this lovely midmorning? Footsteps, of course.

Curling his cloak in on himself, he teleported to a hiding place behind the wall as he watched the intruders approach.

"Specter Knight," a bored female voice called out. "We know you're here. So you can like, jump out to scare us or whatever you do here."

Specter Knight hissed in annoyance. Who dared have the audacity…?

"Hee hee! Maybe he's actually gone today. Again!" a grating voice replied. That one was Plague Knight-- Specter would recognize that irksome timbre anywhere.

Well, he had some time to kill-- and now some alchemists, too. As a lightning bolt flashed in the distance, he teleported to their side of the wall. No sense wasting a perfectly good dramatic entrance.

"Haha! As melodramatic as ever!" Plague Knight cackled. Mona rolled her eyes next to him.  
"What nonsense are you here for now?" Specter asked with annoyance as he floated eerily in front of them. "If you think you're leaving the Yard with more of my essence, you are sorely mistaken."  
Mona gave a dark chuckle. "Don't worry, we've moved on to different projects. We're… actually here about something completely different." Here she turned to Plague and gave a quick raise of the eyebrows.

Plague Knight chuckled awkwardly. "Actually, you know what, we shouldn't waste anymore of his time…" he trailed off as he inched towards the exit. Mona kindly but firmly grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him around to face Specter Knight.

"Go on," she urged. Plague Knight sighed.

"Listen, I'm sorry about stealing your stupid locket," he spat. "I guess it's important to you or something. Whatever."  
Mona raised an eyebrow. Plague Knight turned away from her. "There, I did it. Now let's get out of this dump."  
Mona laughed. "That was the most pathetic apology I've ever seen. Try again."

Plague Knight gave an annoyed sigh. "I'm sorry that you were offended by the fact I stole your locket."  
Mona flicked him in the hood where his ear would be.

"Ow! Fine, fine. I understand you were hurt by the fact I stole your locket. That wasn't my intention, and I apologize. I won't do it again."  
Mona seemed satisfied and turned to Specter. "Also, those skeleton sentries you put up absolutely sucked. So… thanks for that. It took most of the night to get rid of them all."  
"Good," Specter Knight said, still irritated.  
"So can we, like, call a truce? And not have to deal with any more of those things?" Mona said, holding out her hand for a handshake.  
"If I accept, will you throw another flask in my face?" Specter asked bitterly.

Mona winced. "Listen, I thought you were at the Explodatorium to cause trouble. I didn't realize you had an actual legitimate reason for dropping by. So no, I won't throw any more explosives at you unless you give me a reason to do it."

"And what reason do I have to trust you?" Specter asked incredulously.

Mona thought for a moment. "Because I think you only fight people who piss you off. I don't really want you still pissed off at us because you might come back and raise more of those stupid skeletons for us to fight, and I have better things to do with my time. So if I can un-piss you off, our lives get easier."

Specter didn't respond.

"Also, because it's the right thing to do, I guess?" Mona shrugged. "Like, there's regular pissed off, and then there's whatever THAT was when you came to visit. So if that locket had sentimental value or whatever, then that's like, not great. Not that we're like, pinnacles of moral goodness or whatever, but that's going a bit far, even for us."  
Plague Knight started to say something, but Mona glared at him and he thought better of it.

Specter was still silent.

"Listen," Mona said suddenly, "I run a game at the tavern as my day job. You much for games? I can set up a round for you, here and now, on the house. To make up for everything."

"...What kind of game?"

\---

To Specter's surprise, Mona was a competent gamemaster, and further to his surprise, Spin Ye Bottle was a legitimately good game. Games brought out his competitive side, and he eventually found himself competing with Plague Knight to see who could rack up the most points. Mona had questions for him about how he could slash through so many potions in sequence, and modified the next few rounds to better fit his abilities.

After that, the topic of conversation turned to Joustus, and it turned out that both alchemists had kept their cards secret from King Knight. So they all played several rounds there on the ground in the Lich Yard, each enjoying a mix of wins.

When the alchemists left to head home, Specter realized that was the most fun he'd had in an afternoon in a very long time. Perhaps… perhaps it wouldn't be so bad to invite them back another time. He still had to beat Plague Knight's standing high score, and why not give himself the home field advantage?

He chuckled to himself as he headed back to Red's to see how everyone was doing with the mirror.

\---

"Ah, Specty! You have good timing!" Missy said as she mopped the sweat from her brow on her sleeve. She lay on Red and Scarlets' threadbare carpet, wrench in hand, surrounded by tubing and other magical paraphernalia.  
Scarlet walked from the back room carrying a box of more magical supplies. "We think we have this wretched contraption nearly under control. We've been able to transport small objects without problems, so we're likely ready for a larger test subject, if you're interested-- oh, pardon me!"

Acolyte and Red came next from the room, carrying a large vanity mirror. They seemed to be struggling under its weight, so Scarlet and Specter assisted.  
"Thanks for the help," Acolyte laughed, sounding slightly out of breath. "Specter Knight, I have a favor to ask you, if that's alright. We have some tubing in the back room that we've been having trouble cutting into appropriate lengths. Could you…?"

Specter nodded and pulled out his scythe. At Acolyte's direction, he sliced several lengths of tubing into more manageable pieces. He couldn't help noticing the fresh scars in the wooden flooring-- his friends must have had some real difficulty with this.

He also couldn't help stopping to admire the bookshelves in the back room, all lined with magic books and various curios and relics from over the years. Most of them looked like regular household objects, but a few strange crystals and talismans were scattered throughout the batch.

"Ah yes, my old collection," Red said fondly from behind him. "Death may have come for me, but nobody alive knew of my hiding place, so I was able to collect them all without a problem."  
"It's quite the collection," Specter said, impressed. He didn't recognize any of them, but the magical aura of this room was the sensory equivalent of walking into a sauna.  
"Why thank you! It was my life's work, and now it's my death's work." Red gave a friendly finger gun.  
"I know collectors and merchants who would commit all manner of crimes to get their hands on such a collection," Specter remarked.  
"Who, Chester?" Red laughed. "That amateur couldn't walk through the front door without setting off at least ten different traps. Go on, try to take one from the shelf."

Specter reached a gloved, bony hand up to an ordinary-looking tea kettle. His hand was met with an electric field that sent him reeling back. He gritted his teeth to stop from screaming.

"Invigorating, isn't it?" Red laughed.  
"That's… not quite the word I would use," Specter said in pain as he tried to shake out the stinging sensation that ran up his arm.  
"Haha! And that's just the one I told you about," Red said with a twinkle in his eye. "It is good to put these beauties to use on this project, though." He reached onto the shelf and grabbed a flask of strange fluid. 

"Specty, it's time for us to try this thing!" Missy called out from the next room.

Specter took a deep breath and walked back into the living room.

Missy clapped the dust from the knees of her dress while Acolyte finished adjusting some tubing attached to the vanity mirror.  
"This has been a fun project!" Missy said brightly. "That shard has some powerful magic! I can't wait to experiment with it after this is done."

The shard itself had purple tubing attached to both ends, and these connected it to the vanity mirror. Several other odds and ends were connected to the mirror by various lengths of tubing as well. The whole contraption looked a little... ramshackle.

"And this mirror won't be a repeat of last time?" Specter said uneasily.  
"Have a little faith!" Acolyte said as he shook his head. "We put our very best work into this!"

Red drizzled a little liquid from his flask onto the shard. "It's as stabilized as we can get it. You don't have to use it if you're not comfortable, but we worked hard on this."

"It'll be fine," Missy said reassuringly. "You trust us, right?"

Specter sighed. "I do. And if you say it will be safe, I will hold you to that."

Missy clapped. "Ok, let's do a test run sending you to the street outside. Specty, stand on the X. I'll watch the readings. Acolyte, put in the coordinates, and I'll watch for your signal."

Sure enough, Missy had marked a black X on the floor with strips of cloth and a mild adhesive of some kind. It was about three feet away from the vanity mirror. Specter stood there.

"Alright, here we go!" Acolyte said as he performed the magic required to operate the mirror.

There was a flash of light, which was normal. But then there was a sudden cracking sound that made everyone in the room flinch.

"The shard!" Acolyte yelped as the Mirror of Fate fragment cracked in two.

"Abort!" Missy shouted as she fiddled with the contraption.

But it was too late; the spell had begun its course, and no force of magic or nature could stop it now. Specter clenched his fists as he disappeared into thin air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the ending of this chapter is basically Michael and Janet from the good place: "are you sure you're not going to give me a cactus" "yes i'm sure i don't have a cactus, i have the file" "excellent, then please give me the file" *gives a cactus* 
> 
> poor specty, his friends just aren't good at wrangling the magic of the mirror of fate. lol rip
> 
> also, this fic has reached the milestone of 100 hits! yay! *throws confetti* thanks to everyone for reading this silly thing. i hope you like what happens next~


	7. The Apparition

Specter woke up in a familiar landscape, but it wasn't the street outside, nor was it the living room at Red and Scarlets'. It wasn't even the Plains of Passage.

No, this was the colosseum from the last time he'd been trapped in the mirror. He swore loudly. That was the last time he would allow himself to be transported by mirror ever again. He symbolically shook his fist at his friends for entrapping him yet again.

"Is someone there?" a low voice called out.  
"Who goes there?" Specter Knight replied sharply.

A shadowy figure stepped out from behind a column. Roughly the size of a man, it was nearly transparent and hovered a few feet off the ground. Its shape flickered in and out of cohesion like a dancing flame; it was impossible to tell what it was supposed to represent.

"I think I'm lost?" the figure said, confused.  
"Are you?" Specter asked uneasily. "What do you seek?"  
"I don't know," the figure replied, sounding puzzled.  
"Let us start with your name, then," Specter said patiently.  
"I don't seem to know that, either."

Specter sighed. "Then I am not sure if I can help you, but it seems you are no adversary. We can travel together while you regain your memories and I seek an exit from this place."  
"Fine by me," the figure replied. 

As they walked from the colosseum grounds, the landscape changed to that of an enormous forest. Specter held his scythe at the ready.

"There could be trouble around the corner. Can you use a weapon, friend?"

The figure thought for a moment, and suddenly its shadowy right arm lengthened to the size and shape of a huge claymore. "Yes," the figure replied as though remembering something. "I can use weapons."

"That will be useful," Specter Knight said, eyes peeled on the landscape around him. He wasn't sure what to make of the being growing a sword in front of him, though. "Keep an eye out for enemies."

Suddenly a divedrake from the treetop dive-bombed them. "Behind you!" Specter Knight shouted. 

The shadowy figure turned around and slashed through the divedrake, which screamed in pain and flew off.

"Well done," Specter Knight acknowledged. A Beeto fell down from another treetop; he sliced through it with his scythe.

"It seems you are no stranger to weapons yourself," the shadowy figure said in what sounded like amusement.  
"No, that I am not," Specter said with a tired chuckle. "I have been using weapons since I was young… too young, perhaps. Swords, mostly, but this scythe serves well enough nowadays."  
"It goes well with your… ah… grim reaper aesthetic, I guess it is?" the shadowy figure laughed. "Must be useful for scaring people off."  
"It is good for that," Specter agreed.  
"Do you ever think you might be trying too hard, though?" the figure wondered aloud.  
"I beg your pardon?" Specter Knight said, sounding offended.  
"Sorry, I don't know why I said that," the figure said, sounding genuinely apologetic. 

Specter Knight glanced aside at it uneasily, but continued forward.

"I don't suppose you know the way out of this place," Specter said, trying to change the subject.  
"Afraid not," the figure replied sadly. "I don't even remember how I got here. What am I, anyway?"  
"Are you… human? Undead, perhaps?" Specter Knight asked, genuinely unsure.

The figure thought about it and eventually coalesced into a more loosely humanoid shape. Its sword arm clarified into an undefined, humanoid arm holding a rapier.

"Human sounds right," the figure replied. "That seems closer than before."  
"Alright then," Specter Knight said as he pushed forwards through the forest. 

They reached a ravine that broke through the path, leaving a gulch perhaps 12 feet across. Specter Knight easily hovered across it, but then he turned back to the figure.

"Can you make it across?" Specter called out.

The figure took in the situation for a moment, but eventually found a tree branch and swung across, sticking a perfect landing on the opposite side.

"You seem rather light on your feet," Specter remarked.  
"You're one to talk!" the figure laughed. "Hard to be much lighter than hovering over a ravine."  
"If you say so," Specter said with a shrug.  
"Wait, I think I remembered something," the figure said suddenly. "This sword isn't right. I usually use one that looks like this."  
The sword in its hand transformed into a curved cutlass.  
"And I usually use two of them!"  
The sword duplicated.

If Specter Knight had a heart, it would have stopped in his chest when he saw those blades.

"Do… do you have a family?" Specter Knight asked, his voice shaky.  
"Yes, a son named Reize. He should be safe with the hedgehogs right now," the figure said cheerfully. 

Suddenly Specter Knight found it difficult to breathe. The world was closing in on him, tilting under his feet. 

"Wait, that's right! I need to get back to him! Will you help me get back to my son?" the figure said emphatically.

Specter's hands shook uncontrollably.

"I'm not sure I caught your name," the figure continued. "Also, are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost!"

Specter Knight mustered everything in his power to respond.

"... Donovan. I'm Donovan. And you're Luan, my partner and best friend."

"That's right, I'm…" the figure said in realization. Suddenly the figure's silhouette clarified further; the murky head-shape became a man's bearded face and wild hair. The loose humanoid torso-shape became a man's leather armor. The legs turned into a man's leather boots and canvas pants. His arms wielded twin cutlasses that Specter knew all too well.

It was him. In the flesh, or at least in spirit. Was this some kind of illusion, a cruel trick of the mirror? A punishment for Specter's actions?

"Donovan, you are sight for sore eyes," Luan said, sounding relieved. "I remember climbing the Tower of Fate with you, but I must have fallen under its curse. How do we escape this wicked place?"

Specter Knight didn't respond.

Luan looked concerned and approached Specter Knight. "Donovan, are you feeling alright? You seem ill." And before Specter could do anything to stop it, Luan had lifted his visor…

...and when he saw what was beneath, he yelled out and stepped back.

"You. Undead fiend," Luan cried out, tears welling in his eyes as he readied his blades. "What have you done with Donovan? Release him at once!"

Specter Knight replaced his visor and exhaled painfully.

"Luan… what if I told you that there is no one to release? I am him. I am Donovan. This… this is what I am now."  
Luan's eyes went wide, and he lowered his weapons. "Donovan… what evil magic is this? Who did this to you??"

Specter Knight looked down. "That… is a bit of a long story. Do you have some time?"

Luan stared expectantly at him.

"I… an accident befell me in the tower," Specter Knight began. "It nearly killed me. But an Enchantress found me when I was within an inch of my life, and offered me a deal…"

And so Specter recounted his tale of the Enchantress, of gathering the knights for the Order of No Quarter, and her eventual downfall. 

"I see…" Luan said slowly. "But why don't I know this? I should have been there…"

Suddenly realization dawned in his eyes.

"I… didn't make it out of the tower."

The forest landscape around them suddenly changed to that of the amulet room in the Tower of Fate.  
Specter couldn't look him in the eye.

Luan slowly pieced together his memories. "We reached the amulet room, but there was a knight there. You fought her, but then you and I fought, and then the room collapsed…"

Specter's whole body was shaking now. He willed the tears to come, but they wouldn't because he was dead. Otherwise they'd be streaming down his face…

Suddenly Luan reached over and hugged him.

"I'm sorry, Donovan," he whispered. "If I'd fought alongside you instead of arguing, we could have taken her out before she destroyed the tower. I didn't trust you. I'm sorry."

"How dare you apologize?!" Specter said hoarsely, his voice ragged. "If I'd listened to you, we could have left before the tower was at risk of collapsing. Instead, I injured you, and you couldn't escape…"

"Please, no more of this," Luan begged. "It's in the past. It can't be changed. Do not let this train of thought burden you any longer."

Specter said nothing, but he clung to Luan, his gloved, undead fingers digging into the worn leather of Luan's armor.

"Perhaps it's not too late," Specter said softly as he released him and clasped his shoulders. "If we can find our way from the mirror, perhaps you can be resurrected…"

The landscape changes to that of the collapsed room. Luan gently broke away and walked to the wall, placing his hand on its cold green brick.

"Is Reize safe?" Luan asked as he stared at the wall.

"Of course," Specter said. "I kept my promise and saved him from the Enchantress. He lives a simple life with the hedgehog family. He should be in no more danger than anyone else."

Luan smiled. "That's all I could ask for, really. If he's in safe hands, there's nothing else keeping me on the mortal plane."

"What about us? There are so many adventures we have yet to have," Specter Knight said in shock.

"And I would go on them if I could, but…" Here Luan laughed sadly. "If I were to guess… if it was within your power to bring me back, you would have. But something stops you."

Specter clenched his fist. "I will make it my duty in existence to free you. No matter how long it takes, there must be a way, and I will scour the ends of the earth to find it."

Luan placed his hand on Specter's shoulder. "It is alright. I have made peace with my fate. One day, when you and Reize exit the mortal plane, I'll be waiting for you in whatever place comes next. Until then… keep Reize safe, and I want to hear all about your adventures when you reach me." Luan smiled under his beard, a mad glint in his eye.

Specter Knight was reduced to a stunned silence.

"I think this dream of yours is about to end," Luan said knowingly as he began to fade away. "Whatever figment of your mind produced me, I am grateful to have existed for as long as I did. Go in peace, friend."

Specter Knight reached out to clasp his hand one more time, but his hand passed through the illusion as a ghost passes through a wall. The landscape around him faded to white as he cried out one last time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you like pain lol


	8. The Point of No Return

When Specter Knight awoke, he found himself in the westernmost reaches of the Plains of Passage, and he felt like his heart had been ripped out. 

It had all felt so real. The landscapes, Luan's armor, the way he smiled through his beard-- Specter thought he'd never see that again. What he wouldn't give for another five minutes, even one more minute in that place, real or not. The things he should have said, the things he wished to hear, the mere fact of being in his presence... It was almost more than his heart could take.

But his dalliance in the illusion had ended. Luan was still dead. And he was still here. 

The Luan from the dream had told him not to regret the events of the Tower anymore. But it was easier said than done. The Tower may have been destroyed, but it lived on in his mind, with every corner of that amulet room seared into his memory as though with a cattle brand. It was a strain to think about the place, but it was a strain to *avoid* thinking about it, too. There was no winning against grief.

Specter shook his head, trying to shake away the events of the dream. That, too, was easier said than done.

The westernmost reaches of the Plains were less cliff-like than the Plains' interior. The ravines of the interior Plains gently spread out into hills, and these spread out into arable farmland. Beyond that lay civilizations aplenty, all well out of reach from the Valley to the East. During her two-year reign, the Enchantress's attentions were monopolized by matters within the Valley, preventing her expansion beyond it. That was probably for the best, in Specter's opinion.

But there was a world beyond the Valley, open to any who dared to cross the Plains of Passage. And the start of that world was a small farmhouse visible in the distance, surrounded by acres upon acres of tilled crops.

Specter Knight knew that he shouldn't be here yet. Had Acolyte put in the wrong coordinates? Or perhaps it was a fluke of the Mirror that he had ended up here by mistake, rather than the test drive to the street outside Red and Scarlets'. But if he was here anyway, he may as well search for what he came here for. Either he'd find it, or he'd have several days' worth of reconnaissance by the time the others arrived. It was a win either way, in his book.

So he could start by asking directions from that farmhouse up the hill. He strode into the afternoon sun and approached the house. He would do this for Luan... and for his own sense of peace.

\---

It was a small yellow cottage with wooden siding and clay shingles--roughly the size of Red and Scarlets', so perhaps two or three rooms. It had a beautifully kept flowerbed in the front and a quaint cobblestone path that led to the front door. A toolbox filled with gardening equipment sat on the porch near the front door; the implements appeared to be well-used.

No time like the present, Specter supposed. He gathered his courage and knocked.

…

There was a short pause, and then a set of heavy footsteps boomed out from the house. The door opened, revealing the owner to be Shovel Knight, in his blue horned armor and all.

Shovel Knight jumped in surprise.

"Specter Knight! What foul business brings thee to our fair residence? Must I fight thee to vanquish thy spectral presence?" Shovel Knight pulled a gardening spade from the toolbox by the door and waved it menacingly.

Specter thought for a moment. He could try to engage Shovel Knight in battle to regain his locket. But Missy was right that he'd never been able to best him before. And the tavern dancer's words echoed in his mind: "I hope your contempt is as satisfying to you as it is heartless towards others."

Perhaps… perhaps contempt would not serve him well here. He steeled his nerves and tried a different approach.

"We need not fight," Specter said as calmly as he could muster, although his heart still ached at the locket's absence. "I believe you have something that belongs to me, and I had come to… politely ask for it back."

"Is that a threat?" Shovel Knight said suspiciously, clutching his spade tighter.

"This may come as a surprise to you, but no," Specter Knight said seriously. "Answer me this: do you have a locket in your possession? The size of the palm of one's hand, with an interlocking loop design on top? Gold around the edges, with a blue inlay on the surface?"

Shovel Knight seemed startled. "Well, yes. It came into my possession some time ago. Why do you ask?"

Specter stared at Shovel Knight through his visor. "Have you ever been able to open it?"

"I'm afraid not," Shovel Knight said conversationally, but he sounded confused.

"Inside you'll find the Seatlan family crest," Specter said distantly. "It was given to me by a dear friend of that family line who… is no longer with us. That relic is all I have left of him. Please, I beg of you to return it," he said, voice cracking.

Shovel Knight considered.

"I have come a long way in search of it," Specter continued quietly. "You were not easy to find, nor was your identity as the buyer from Chester. I do not wish for a fight. I just…" Specter trailed off.

Shovel Knight nodded. "On one condition: if you may open the locket, and if its interior is as you say, then I will believe your story. I would hate to traffic in stolen property, after all." He then dug through a dresser drawer in the front room and removed the locket. Specter's jaw dropped when he saw it. There it was…

Shovel Knight reverently handed the locket to Specter. Feeling its weight in his hands was a small comfort already. It took only a small amount of magic to unlatch it, revealing the engraved crest Specter had promised, along with the Seatlan name in a fancy font. It also gave off a gentle blue light.

"It seems you spoke the truth," Shovel Knight said in awe as he witnessed the locket's contents. "In that case, I apologize deeply for troubling you. That locket saved my life on multiple occasions and aided me in defeating the Enchantress, so I thank you for parting with it as long as you did. But I now return it to your possession."

Specter Knight clasped the locket tightly with both hands. "Thank you," he said quietly. "For this and for ending the Enchantress. I will trouble you no further."

"All in the day's work of a knight!" Shovel Knight said proudly. Then in a louder voice, he called out behind him, "Shield Knight, did you want to say hello to our guest?"

Specter Knight froze as Shield Knight emerged from a back staircase. Her eyes widened when she saw him.

"You!!" she screamed. And before anyone else could react, she'd thrown her crimson shield at Specter Knight with sharpshooter accuracy.

If Specter had blinked at the wrong moment, it would have clocked him solidly in the head where he stood in the doorway. Luckily, he saw in time to step around it, but only barely.

Shovel Knight panicked. "Shield, my sweet, he comes in peace!"

"I'm sure," she snarled as she stepped outside, "just like he 'came in peace' to steal the amulet from the tower--just before he got me possessed by the Enchantress."  
Specter's temper flared. "That was your fault for destabilizing the structure! If you hadn't bashed into those walls so many times, none of that would have happened!"  
"You shouldn't have been there in the first place!" Shield Knight yelled. "If you had heeded my warning, you wouldn't be dead!"

Seething with cold fury, Specter Knight put his locket away with his Curios and summoned his scythe. This ended now.

Shovel Knight lifted his shovel defensively. "Please, do not fight! No blood need be spilt today. Let us go our separate ways and dwell on this no further."

Shield Knight shook her head. "Shovel, this petty thief will be a menace to society until he is removed from it."

Specter Knight brandished his scythe at Shield Knight. "The menace to society is you, Enchantress." 

Shield Knight's eyes went wide with rage.

Specter Knight leaped forward into a Judgment Rush strike, launching towards Shield Knight with blinding speed. But she recovered her shield and deflected his scythe's blade with it. Specter Knight hissed.

She returned a bludgeoning strike with her small shield. Specter Knight deflected the blow with his scythe before parrying the blade around her weapon, slicing her wrist. Shield Knight screamed in rage.

"Who knows what calamity you will begin next if left to your own devices?" she yelled, sending her large shield flying.

"Nothing on the scale of the calamity you orchestrated!" Specter shot back, leaping out of the way of the shield. But it caught him in the back when it bounced back, knocking him to the ground. He groaned in pain.

"That calamity was carried out by you!" Shield Knight caught her large shield on its rebound, pointing accusingly at Specter Knight.

"Only after you threatened my life!" Specter roared as he got to his knees. He sent a quick series of curios flying-- Bounding Souls, Spider Scythes, Throwing Sickles. Shield Knight adeptly dodged them all as he stood up, and she swung her shield at the same time Specter swung his scythe--

Both of them clashed against, and were stopped by, a fortuitous shovel blade.

"Please, I beg you!" Shovel Knight called out. "This was all a long time ago. It doesn't matter anymore. Please let bygones be bygones. Let this be over."

"It is not over!" Shield Knight said forcefully. "I am still haunted by my memories of that time. If I can spare others that hardship, I will in a heartbeat!"

"Spare others hardship? You killed me!" Specter Knight roared. "You ripped my life from me with your own hands and forced me into servitude under penalty of my undeath!"

"That was the Enchantress, not me!" Shield Knight seethed. "Do not make that mistake again! I was a prisoner in my own mind while she used my likeness for her own purposes!"

"I have no reason to believe that!" Specter said dismissively. "You took everything from me-- my life, my volition, the amulet, the life of my partner. If it's a fight you want, then it's a fight you'll have!"

"Very well, then," Shovel Knight said sadly as he brandished his shovel blade.

Shield Knight snarled. She backed away and threw her large shield--

\--but it was diverted by a blast of flame.

"Yes!" Missy cheered, blowing the flames from her fingertips as she ran towards Specter from a few dozen feet away. Red and Scarlet followed close behind with swords in hand. They were a sight for sore eyes, to be sure.

"Specter, I thought we agreed that you would not go ahead alone?" Scarlet called out.  
"Believe it or not, I was only stopping for directions. I'm as surprised as you are," he called back as he parried blows from Shovel Knight's spade.  
"Then it looks like we made it just in time! We owe Percy a big favor," Missy said with a grin as she reached Specter Knight. "So are we making a getaway, or are we beating these hooligans into the ground?"

Specter Knight folded his arms coolly as Missy, Red, and Scarlet took up battle positions alongside them. Missy brewed another fireball in the palm of her hand, and Red and Scarlet held their swords at the ready in a textbook fencing position.

"Well? Specter Knight said to Shovel and Shield. "Do we have a fight?"

Shovel and Shield glanced at each other. They were powerful warriors, but four opponents at once would be a difficult match for them.

"You don't know your compatriot as well as you think you do," Shield Knight pleaded, glancing between Missy, Red and Scarlet. "Has he ever told you what happened in the Tower of Fate? I was there. He and his partner sought a dangerous artifact and ignored my pleas for them to leave. When the tower began to collapse, this thief and his partner disagreed about whether to escape or not, so he slashed into his partner and moved for the amulet. If not for this man's actions, the Enchantress never would have risen to power!"

Scarlet turned to Specter. "Is this true?"

Specter looked down. "It was a long time ago. I was young and reckless, and I regret those moments every day. Even so, I used the flat of my blade. It was not intended to be a fatal strike. I never wanted that."

"He is a danger!" Shield Knight entreated. "I seek only to protect the world from him. The Tower should have claimed him long ago. Help me end this folly!"

Red paused for a moment… and shook his head.

"If he should be dead, then so should I," he said with a sad laugh. "But I'm not sure you understand what undeath means. A person isn't locked into the person they were the moment they died. They still learn and experience things just like an alive person. Perhaps Specter Knight has grown since you knew him. You're not giving him enough of a chance."

Scarlet nodded. "He has made his mistakes, but he has also done acts of kindness, like most anyone. If you want to end him, you will have to get through us first."

"How can you stand there and defend him?" Shield Knight cried out at a fever pitch. "After everything he's done? The pain he's caused?"

"I'm not defending it," Missy said honestly. "But does he truly need to have his existence ended for it?"

"You don't understand…" Shield whispered, her head lowered.

Missy took a delicate step forward.

"Perhaps not. Nobody has been through what you have, but… it sounds like you've been through a lot," she said gently. "Being caught in a collapsing tower and possessed is a lot for anyone to go through. No wonder you're haunted by nightmares. It sounds like your whole *life* was a living nightmare for those three years."

Shield Knight pursed her lips, her shoulders quaking under her armor as she stood. Shovel Knight steadied her. 

"Specty would never admit it, but he's hurting too," Missy said quietly. "He was hurt by the Tower, same as you. You two have more in common than you think.

Specter Knight was offended to think he could have anything in common with Shield Knight, who he hated, but he didn't interrupt Missy to say so. Judging by the look on her face, Shield Knight felt the same.

"The way I see it, the Enchantress hurt both of you," Red joined in. "And she's gone, but the pain remains from it. So your brain goes in circles trying to find a way to not be in pain anymore. You both settled on blaming each other to cope. What good does that do you?"

Shovel Knight sighed. "Shield, perhaps they are right. Your nightmares have only gotten worse over time since you escaped the tower."

"Shovel," Shield Knight said warningly, her face turning nearly as red as her armor.

"There is nothing to be ashamed of. Specter gets them too," Red said soothingly. Specter's face burned in mortification.

A heavy silence weighed over the group.

"I cannot forgive him," Shield said, voice low. "Say what you will. I do not have the room in my heart."

"Then don't," Scarlet said simply. "Go your separate ways. You need never see him again. Do what you must to heal in your own space, and allow him to do the same. That is all we ask."

Shield Knight was silent for a long moment.

"Very well," she relented, lowering her shield. "Specter Knight, I bid you haste on your journey, and I genuinely hope I never see you again."  
"Likewise," Specter Knight replied.

And with that, the two groups parted ways, and Specter considered that perhaps he didn't know Shield Knight as well as he thought, either.

\---

Specter Knight had never been under the illusion that finding the locket would mend the hole in his heart. Though it was all he had left of Luan, it was still a poor substitute for the man himself. Even so, it was a comfort to have it back. Its absence didn't further salt the emotional wounds he bore. 

Specter and his friends had a long journey ahead of them before they could return to the Valley. It would be several difficult days of hiking and climbing before they would again reach the Lich Yard. Missy had brought some basic supplies with her before leaving for Percy's catapult, such as food and water for herself, but they didn't have much beyond that to make the journey more comfortable.

But in spite of everything, he had his locket in tow and people he cared about alongside him. They would have a campfire that night, and perhaps even exchange stories. No journey could be so terrible with such good company.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. I couldn't find detailed info on the inside of the locket, so I made something up to serve the plot. I hope you'll forgive me
> 
> 2\. Towards the end of SoT, Specter seems to believe Shield and The Enchantress are the same person, but by SoH, he seems to believe Shield Knight is dead and the Enchantress is not her. For the purposes of this story, Specter incorrectly conflates the two as he gets angrier.
> 
> 3\. Missy can canonically summon fire, as shown in Showdown. Hee hee
> 
> 4\. Don't change that channel-- there's still a denouement coming.


	9. Incompleto Sin Ti

"Welcome back!" Acolyte said warmly several days later as the travelers completed their journey.

Missy, Red, Scarlet, and Specter walked single-file into Red and Scarlets' house, exhausted but in good spirits. Red and Scarlet brushed the grime from their clothes, and Specter's cloak looked more tattery than usual. Missy's dress and face were smudged with dirt, but she wore her usual grin.

"I take it your journey was successful?" Acolyte asked.  
In response, Specter Knight pulled the locket out from within his cloak and showed it to Acolyte. Acolyte jumped with glee.

"Then the operation was a success! I was worried when I used the wrong coordinates in the Mirror," he said with a sheepish laugh.  
"It all worked out," Scarlet said comfortingly. "Percy owed me a favor anyhow."  
"Why did an alchemist owe you a favor?" Missy said with a raised eyebrow.

"Skeleton secret," Scarlet and Red said at the same time. They both laughed.

Acolyte pouted. "Missy, sometimes I think we should come up with more 'alive person secrets.'"  
Missy laughed. "But then who would Specty share secrets with?"  
"There is much about me that you will never know," Specter Knight said broodingly. Everyone laughed.

"Like who your first kiss was?" Acolyte teased.  
That caught Specter off guard. "Exactly," he said in a huff.  
"Ooh wait, I know this one!" Missy said suddenly. "It was Gall in the Tower of Fates!"

Specter froze in place, his face burning.  
"We shan't speak of that," he said, voice pinched.

"Oh, Gall! There's a name I haven't heard in a while," Red laughed. "That fool tried to kiss everyone in the Tower of Fates, living or dead. Haha! I wonder how he's doing now?"

Acolyte looked over at Specter Knight with an impish grin. "You could always go look for him~" he said in a singsong voice.

"Absolutely not," Specter Knight barked. Then, he added in a quieter voice, "he's not my type."

Missy's eyebrows shot up, and she opened her mouth to speak, presumably to ask exactly what Specter Knight's type was, but Red cut her off.

"Alright, we've badgered this poor fellow enough," he said with a chuckle. "Unless either of you two jesters want to tell us about your own romantic exploits?"

Missy and Acolyte clammed up immediately, faces pink. Red folded his arms smugly.

"That's what I thought," he said decisively.  
"But if you ever need someone to set you up, I'd be happy to help a friend out," Scarlet teased. Specter hissed.

"Alright, well, as much as I hate to kick you all out, I have some new curios to add to my collection, and it's possible that some among us would benefit from a change of clothes and a bath," Red said with a shrug. "But we'd be happy to have you all over for a Joustus night sometime. Check your schedules and let us know when you're available."

"Looking forward to it!" Acolyte said cheerfully.

"And before you all leave…" Specter started, but hesitated. "...I wanted to thank you all for helping me get my locket back. I'm grateful to know you."

"No worries, Specty!" Missy replied. "Now c'mere!"

She tackle-hugged him, and eventually Acolyte, Red, and Scarlet joined in. Specter Knight supposed he would tolerate this-- just this once.

"Team Lich Yard!" Acolyte cheered when they all let go.  
"Team Lich Yard!" Missy agreed.  
"Team Lich Yard," Specter added with a sly grin that the others couldn't see.

\---

Time performed its familiar dance, and the people and places of the Valley slowly changed. 

After King Pridemoor started sponsoring Mona and Plague Knights' alchemical research, Mona closed up her Spin Ye Bottle day job and the two moved out from the Explodatorium. However, a few times a month, she could be known to visit the Lich Yard and run her old game for the residents there. While the living and undead populations of the Lich Yard had many differences to resolve, their shared love of Spin Ye Bottle was something they had in common, at least.

Specter Knight became territorial over his Spin Ye Bottle high score, ferociously defending it from competitors on a regular basis. Plague Knight would occasionally visit the Lich Yard simply to beat Specter's high score in front of him, though, which always led to immediate retaliation on Specter's part. It became something of a friendly rivalry between the two of them.

During one of these game festivals, Scarlet struck up a conversation with Mona, which budded into a lasting friendship. She and Scarlet began exchanging notes, and Scarlet was happy to lend her relics to the alchemists for their experiments in exchange for various alchemical supplies-- although what she did with them was anyone's guess. Specter Knight asked her once, but she laughed it off as a "skeleton secret." Always so mysterious, those skeletons.

There was another memorable evening when Gall showed his face at Spin Ye Bottle night. His manners had improved somewhat; instead of attempting to kiss Specter without permission again, he simply flirted incessantly until Specter told him to make himself scarce. So Gall moved on to hitting on Scarlet… and got a right hook to the jaw for his trouble.

Phantom Striker was known to crash these parties every so often and attempt to vanquish the undead participants, but Specter Knight put a stop to that consistently enough that he eventually stopped trying. Phantom Striker still grumbled about the "blights" on the earth that needed to be "laid to rest," but eventually they came to a gentleman's understanding: the undead would not overrun the living side of the Lich Yard, and the living would not vanquish the peaceful undead, or enter their borders to try.

It wasn't perfect, but it was a start.

\---

One day, Specter Knight awoke from a nap in his hideout hammock to shouts from Super Skeleton:

"Uh, master, there's an interloper looking for you!"

Specter Knight sighed and levitated from his hideout entrance. Sure enough, Chester was waiting outside one of the buildings. Specter knew that Chester would often scavenge empty buildings in the Lich Yard for valuables, but this behavior was unusual.

"Chester," Specter acknowledged.  
"Donovan," Chester said with a small nod. "I haven't heard from you in a while. How goes the heirloom collection? My tip won't be fresh forever."  
"Ah yes, your demands," Specter said wryly. "I'm happy to tell you that I won't be requiring your services."  
Chester raised his eyebrows. "Giving up so soon on that locket of yours? I thought it meant more to you than that."

Specter's temper flared, but he restrained himself. Chester had no leverage over him anymore.

"Actually, I found the asking price for your services to be too high, so I located the buyer a different way," Specter said evenly. "I recognize that I deprived you of the gold in my pocket and the resale value of the goods, but I assure you that it's just business. I hope you can understand."

Chester's grin faded a bit. "You could have at least told me," he said in a huff.  
Specter chuckled. "I didn't feel the need to inform you that I recovered my personal stolen property. And you never asked."  
Chester laughed. "Alright, smart guy. You won this time, but you'll be back. You always are."  
Specter shrugged. "If I require your services, I'll be sure to let you know."

Chester gave a casual salute and walked away. Even when that accursed merchant had lost, that smug grin hardly left his face. Specter hissed and slunk back into his hideout like a moray eel receding into its cave.

\---

The days turned into weeks, and the weeks passed into months.

Even with his locket back, Specter Knight found himself unenchanted with the dealings of the outside world. With no pesky bothers to deal with such as eat or sleep, he spent most of his time staring endlessly into the depths of his locket, lost in thought. He slowly stopped attending Joustus night with his friends and confined himself to his hideout. There even came a day when he missed Spin Ye Bottle, of all things. 

One afternoon, a few days later, he was interrupted from his brooding by a knock against the red brick of his hideout entrance.

Specter closed his locket and returned it to his hiding place. There were not many who knew this location, and fewer who could get past Super Skeleton without causing a racket--

"Specty, it's me!" Missy called out in a sing-song voice.

Curse that girl. Specter floated up to the entrance.

"What dire emergency bids you to interrupt me in my home?!" he said crankily.  
"You, silly!" Missy said cheerfully. "You've hardly left your hideout for weeks. It's not good for you! You need some fresh air."  
"I do not require fresh air, or in fact any air at all," Specter said coldly.  
"Fine, then you require social interaction with fellow sentient beings!" Missy said, putting her hands on her hips. "Now go change into a nicer cloak and meet us at Red's at sundown."  
"My cloak is fine," Specter said with irritation.

Missy picked a segment of the cloak's hem and pulled up to Specter's field of vision.

"Do you see this patch here?" she said gesturing to a discolored segment of the cloak. "This is Beeto viscera from when we crossed the Plains of Passage. That was months ago. I don't care if you're dead-- you still have to do laundry like the rest of us."

Specter hissed. 

"None of that!" Missy said, holding up a finger. "Scarlet planned something special for the evening, and the least you can do is show up *not covered in viscera.* It's a very low bar."

Specter glared.

"It's going to be a lovely evening and you're going to have fun," she said cheerfully. "See you then!"

She climbed out of the hideout, and Specter considered not showing up. But knowing Missy, she'd show up and drag him out with point-blank fireballs if she had to, so there was no use fighting the inevitable.

And… loath as he was to admit it, maybe she was right. He spent a lot of time cooped up in his hideout stewing in his own thoughts and regrets. Maybe... maybe this would be good for him.

\---

"Ooh, looking sharp!" Scarlet remarked as Specter Knight walked into the house. "And you even cleaned your armor! Look at how it shines when released from its grimy prison!"

Specter grumbled. He hadn't been able to get all of the grime out of his regular red cloak, so he'd broken out his slightly cleaner blue cloak for the occasion-- complete with enchantment spell to make his face look like he was still alive, although the visor was currently lowered.

He had cleaned his armor, though. It was nice that someone had noticed.

Scarlet wore a silver dress and headband reminiscent of the wedding fineries that she'd worn when Specter first met her, as opposed to her regular brown and blue work clothes. Red wore his usual blue feathered cap, but with it he wore a blue vest/dress pants combo with a tan dress shirt.

"We're still waiting on Acolyte, but he should be here soon," Missy said brightly. She had changed her normal black dress for a slightly fancier, more expensive-looking version with matching gloves. She also wore a black birdcage veil in her green curls.

Specter Knight looked suspiciously between his friends' fancy clothing. 

"Can you tell me what the occasion is, or is that, too, a skeleton secret?" he asked.

Scarlet laughed. "It's a surprise, Specter! You'll see when we get up to the Flying Machine."

"I see," Specter said in surprise. The Flying Machine? Now he was wondering if he'd brought enough gold for the trip. "And I'm not underdressed?"

Red stared at Specter's outfit thoughtfully. "I might have a suit in your size in the back if you're interested."  
Missy's eyebrows raised. "I don't think I've ever seen you in anything other than that armor, Specter. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious."  
Red shrugged. "I doubt it'll make much difference to our host, so whatever you prefer."

Specter considered for a moment.  
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to see the suit," he said cautiously.

"Suit yourself!" Red laughed, and he departed to the back room to find a suitable outfit. He emerged a few moments later with a charcoal suit with a silk dress shirt.

"It's been tailored to fit skeleton proportions, so hopefully it will suit you as well," Red said optimistically as he handed it over. "You can get changed in the restroom if you like. We have time."

Specter nodded and disappeared into the back.

He hadn't grown up in the most wealthy of places, and this suit was one of the most expensive pieces of non-armor clothing he'd ever handled, let alone worn himself. He removed his right glove, fascinated at how soft the silk was against his undead hand. He could barely feel it, especially compared to the rough texture of his cloaks. And it had indeed been tailored well. A normal dress shirt fit for an alive person would have smothered his emaciated frame in folds of fabric, but this… this fit correctly.

Several minutes later, after fiddling with all of the different suit fasteners, he emerged wearing the suit.

"Looks like it's a good fit," Red said approvingly. "Or at least, that's my best guess, since you seem to have … kept on your visor and gauntlets from your armor?"

True enough, Specter wore the charcoal suit with his bronze visor and gloves. The dissonance between them was almost cartoonish.

"The sleeves were, ah, a bit short," Specter explained uncomfortably.

Scarlet tapped her cheekbone as she examined his sleeves.

"Oh, it'll be just fine, dear!" she said after a moment. "Nobody will notice a thing, and showing a bit of wrist never killed anyone. Why don't you take those gauntlets off?"

"Uhh…" Specter stood stiffly, making no moves to remove them.

"Would you feel better with a pair of gloves?" Red wondered. Specter gave a quick nod. Red went back to retrieve some.

"So you don't want to show what's underneath your armor..." Missy realized. She nodded with understanding. "Gloves will work just as well, but what can we do about that visor?"

"It doesn't match the look of the suit," Scarlet agreed. "But Propeller Knight always keeps his helmet on when he wears his suits, so there is that?"

"Pity it's not in silver, at least," Missy said, thinking out loud. "Perhaps a silver visor with a matching charcoal hood or scarf across the top?"

That was a compromise Specter was willing to make. By the time he'd returned from his hideout wearing his Rail Mail visor, Acolyte had arrived and they were ready to leave.

"Looking good, Specter!" Acolyte said with a finger gun in his direction. He himself wore a garish suit in the Troupple King's red and green, complete with oversized apple-shaped hat.

Specter grunted in response.

"Where is the Flying Machine posted, anyway?" Acolyte wondered aloud.

"Just outside the Lich Yard, only a short walk away," Scarlet answered, daintily lifting her skirts as she stepped out the door. "Come now! We don't want to be late."

\---

A short while later, Team Lich Yard found themselves aboard the gilded planks of the grand Flying Machine as it sailed into the sunset. The grand outdoor dining hall offered an unforgettable view of the Valley and the ocean; a long table with a spotless white table cloth stretched across the length of the hall, the fabric of its table cloth floating gently in the wind. The impeccable rows of wine glasses weren’t even shaken by the rumbling machine them-- the ride was that smooth. 

As everyone took their seats, Specter was once again struck by the nature of the occasion.

“So, what is the surprise you were telling me about?” he asked Scarlet curiously.

Scarlet tapped her cheekbone thoughtfully. “Why don’t you ask my business partner?”  
Specter tilted his head in surprise. “Business partner…?”

Scarlet gestured behind his shoulder with her chin. Specter looked over his shoulder, and none other than Mona walked up with Plague Knight following close behind.

“Hey, Scarlet,” Mona said, a tiny smile twitching at the corner of her mouth.  
“Mona! What a delight it is to be here,” Scarlet said cheerfully.  
"And what a delight it is to have you all," Propeller Knight said as he walked up, suit and mismatched helmet and all. "Can I offer the guests of honor any beverages tonight?"

"Beverages would be fitting," Scarlet giggled.

"For those of you who don't know, I've been running a side project with Scarlet for the last few months," Mona said conversationally. "Scarlet wanted to see if it was possible to create food and beverages that the undead could, like, actually eat. And that meant it had to dissolve in a certain timeframe, convert into Will when metabolized, etc. It's been a real learning process all around. But I'm proud to announce that we did it!"

Scarlet clapped her hands with joy. "We created a marinade that can be applied to ordinary food, and we also created a special kind of alcohol for the undead. We call it Spirit Spirits!"

Specter Knight nodded. He was impressed. He'd been able to absorb Will from living food in a pinch before, but being able to enjoy the experience was another matter.

"Yes, indeed!" Propeller Knight said with excitement. "And the Flying Machine is proud to announce that we've formed a contract with this budding distillery, and we will be offering their goods as one of the many fineries available upon the vessel. Just think of all the undead customers who will now be able to sample the land's delicacies-- for a price, of course!"

Red nodded joyfully. "It has been far too long since I have had a proper steak. I would imagine the same of many of the others back in the Lich Yard."

"So, what will it be?" Propeller Knight said with a mischievous air to his voice. "As guests of honor, you all are welcome to any entree that the gastronomer of our fine kitchen can produce! Even you, Specter-- you may have avoided our cooking before, but now you have no excuse. So what will it be?"

Specter considered. Very well, Propeller Knight had twisted his arm, and he'd be a fool to reject this offer. But the sheer breadth of the menu options available paralyzed him with indecision. With the entire world at his selection, what should he choose?

One by one, his friends gave their orders, and finally it became his turn.

"Sushi," he decided. 

"Ohoho! A daring choice," Propeller Knight said theatrically. "We will be out with your entrees posthaste!"

Then he took to the skies and fluttered away to the kitchens.

"If I may, I'd like to propose a toast," Red said as he uncorked a bottle of Spirit Spirits. "A toast to these lovely women who made tonight possible-- my dearest Scarlet, the love of my life and renowned magic expert, and the brilliant Mona, the renowned alchemist. May you enjoy the fruits of your success for time to come!"

The group toasted and sipped their beverages, and Plague Knight squawked, "Hey, I helped with that too! A bit!"

To Specter's surprise, the Spirit Spirit was quite good-- a stiff booze-forward flavor, like a scotch or whiskey, and certainly the best (and only) beverage he'd had since dying. And when the entrees came out, the sushi was everything he had hoped it would be. 

The rest of the evening dissolved into a blur as Specter had more of the Spirit Spirits. It was a joyous evening of laughter and merrymaking; when Propeller Knight brought out the Bard and a few supporting musicians, the rest of the group started dancing, and he got carried away as well. He only knew the one dance move, a moonwalk-type move with accompanying arm movements that couldn't have been terribly graceful in his intoxicated state. But dancing need not be aesthetically pleasing to be time well spent; it need only bring joy to the dancers and the people around them.

Speaking of dancers, there was a point in the evening when Specter swore he could see the dancer from the tavern watching him from across the dance floor, jaw dropped and eyes wide. What was she doing here? Well, it didn't matter, so he paid it no mind.

What had the Troupple King said again? That Specter Knight's days were numbered, and that he was merely prolonging the inevitable? Perhaps. But the same could be said of anyone alive, too. Death came for everyone eventually. If his entire existence was merely "prolonging the inevitable," then his purpose in existence ought to be to prolong it well.

A few days later, he swallowed his pride and his shame, and he went to visit Reize in the village. That was the beginning of Specter Knight, who was still undead, nevertheless learning to live well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (a/n : i did attempt to research medieval clothing for this section of the story, but i realized that a) shovel knight takes place in an alternate universe whose fashion senses probably don't line up with ours, b) if they did, I have no way of knowing what century the games take place in because clockwork towers, submarines, and flying machines aren't medieval at all, and c) whatever, imma wing it, propeller knight wears a suit at the end of plague of shadows so imma say suits exist in this universe DONE)
> 
> (also: Missy and Acolyte's ages are kinda ambiguous. If you headcanon them as being too young to drink, then they canonically had sparkling juice or something instead of alcohol. If you headcanon them as older, then they canonically had whatever wine Propeller Knight had laying around, same as Mona. Plague Knight canonically toasted with a sour energy drink because he's a nerd.)


	10. Epilogue

The ending of this story, too, is merely a beginning. Carrying the burden of regret is a strain always; it is not a task that one can accomplish once and forget about. It is an ongoing journey that one travels for the rest of their life, and sometimes even beyond. 

But as one grows stronger in their travels, the strain of memory is diminished, and the burden slowly becomes easier to carry.

\---

Several years later, Specter Knight knocked on the door of Reize Seatlan, the newest recruit to the knights of King Pridemoor.

"Donovan?" Reize cried out in surprise. He was no longer the naive child he had been when he had gotten possessed by the Enchantress. Age and maturity had granted him some wisdom, but at a mere 18 years old, his eyes still gleamed with the inextinguishable hope of youth.

"Reize, it has been some time," Specter Knight said with uncharacteristic warmth. Reize pulled him into a hug; they were nearly the same height now. How the boy had grown...

"Did you hear the news?" Reize said excitedly, his grin bursting from his face. "I'm to become a knight! A true, fully inducted knight!"

"That was never a question," Specter Knight said wryly. "With your abilities, they would have been foolish to reject you."

Reize laughed. "You flatter me, Donovan!"

"It's true. I have seldom seen a fighter with your skill, let alone your integrity," Specter said honestly. "Your father would be proud."

Reize smiled, but sadness weighed at his eyes. Seven years had dulled the grief somewhat, but no amount of time would erase it entirely. Specter, of all people, knew that all too well.

"He always said I'd make a fine knight one day," Reize said with a smile as he remembered. "He even made up that Knight's Code of his to keep me out of trouble. The principles were sound, but I was certainly in for a shock when I applied for real knighthood!"

Specter chuckled. "Your father only ever wanted what was best for you," he said fondly. 

Reize nodded. He knew that. He carried that truth close to his heart and held it close when he needed it most. Specter knew this.

"I wish I'd had more time with him," Reize said softly. "I was only eleven years old…"

Specter nodded solemnly. "There is never enough time with those we love. But our memories remain, and his legacy lives on in those who remember him. Nothing can take that away from you."

Reize gave a half-smile.

Specter Knight coughed quietly. "I, uh, had a gift for you. To celebrate your induction to knighthood."

Reize raised his eyebrows curiously.

Specter Knight reached into his pocket to pull out the locket.

"Many years ago, your father gave me this Seatlan heirloom locket. He asked me to be family to you, Reize, and to protect you from harm as you grew up. I swore to lay down my life for you if need be. But now you are grown and a knight yourself, you can take care of yourself."

Here Specter Knight held the locket out to Reize.

"I will always be family to you, Reize. Nothing will ever change that. And should you need me, I will move heaven and earth to be by your side. But I want you to have this so that you may have a reminder of your father's blessing and protection. He would be proud of you."

Reize smiled, his eyes getting a little teary.

"And… I'm proud of you, too," Specter Knight finished. 

Reize brushed his tears away on his shoulder and pulled Specter Knight tightly into another hug. Reize was too choked up to speak, but his embrace spoke louder than words could say.

\---

Specter Knight knew the locket would be in safe hands with Reize. It was his birthright, by all accounts. And besides, Specter Knight didn't need it anymore. The locket was but a tiny strain of Luan's memory, and Specter had a lifetime of memories with him to cherish. Next to those, the locket didn't matter at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I had fun writing this, and I hope you had fun experiencing it.


End file.
